Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action
Medicinal plants have long been part of the healthcare systems of humanity. At least eighty percent of the population in all World Health Organization (WHO) regions report using herbal medicines. Thus, losing access to medicinal plants from climate change could have a devastating impact on healthcar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-03-01
|
| Series: | The Journal of Climate Change and Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278223000147 |
| _version_ | 1797856427205722112 |
|---|---|
| author | Bernard Appiah Isaac Kingsley Amponsah Md Koushik Ahmed Gursimar Kaur Singh Merlin Lincoln Kwao Mensah |
| author_facet | Bernard Appiah Isaac Kingsley Amponsah Md Koushik Ahmed Gursimar Kaur Singh Merlin Lincoln Kwao Mensah |
| author_sort | Bernard Appiah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Medicinal plants have long been part of the healthcare systems of humanity. At least eighty percent of the population in all World Health Organization (WHO) regions report using herbal medicines. Thus, losing access to medicinal plants from climate change could have a devastating impact on healthcare systems globally. Although the role of the mass media in tackling climate change and health challenges was recognized in a 2017 landmark report on health and climate change, media coverage of the climate crisis and related impacts on medicinal plants appear to be lacking. To assess media coverage of the extinction of medicinal plants due to climate change in three regions — Africa, Asia and Middle East, we conducted a newspaper content analysis, and identified 19 eligible newspaper articles out of 198 articles published from 2008 to 2021. We also conducted a systematic search of studies published in peer-reviewed journals over the same period to determine the extent to which scientific papers on the climate crisis on medicinal plants published over the same period were being cited by the analysed newspaper articles. Of the 478 papers identified, 52 were published from Asian and African countries and were considered eligible. None of the 52 scientific papers were cited by any of the 19 newspaper articles, an indication that studies focusing on medicinal plants’ extinction resulting from climate change were not getting publicity in newspapers. The surprisingly few newspaper articles on the subject may indicate a lack of transdisciplinary initiatives, partnerships, and relationships between stakeholders including journalists and researchers in Africa, Asia and the Middle East working to highlight how climate change is negatively impacting medicinal plants. Therefore, we propose advocacy strategies for promoting media coverage of the climate crisis and its impacts on medicinal plants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:40:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8f854c71f0d441829c512e3a5d00b0bc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2667-2782 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:40:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Journal of Climate Change and Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-8f854c71f0d441829c512e3a5d00b0bc2023-03-30T04:27:25ZengElsevierThe Journal of Climate Change and Health2667-27822023-03-0110100215Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for actionBernard Appiah0Isaac Kingsley Amponsah1Md Koushik Ahmed2Gursimar Kaur Singh3Merlin Lincoln Kwao Mensah4Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Ministries, Accra, Ghana; Centre for Science and Health Communication, PMB M71, Ministries, Accra, Ghana; Corresponding author: Research Program on Health Communication and Public Engagement (H-COPE), Department of Public Health, Syracuse University 150 Crouse Dr, 435A White Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaResearch Program on Health Communication and Public Engagement (H-COPE), Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USAResearch Program on Health Communication and Public Engagement (H-COPE), Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USADepartment of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaMedicinal plants have long been part of the healthcare systems of humanity. At least eighty percent of the population in all World Health Organization (WHO) regions report using herbal medicines. Thus, losing access to medicinal plants from climate change could have a devastating impact on healthcare systems globally. Although the role of the mass media in tackling climate change and health challenges was recognized in a 2017 landmark report on health and climate change, media coverage of the climate crisis and related impacts on medicinal plants appear to be lacking. To assess media coverage of the extinction of medicinal plants due to climate change in three regions — Africa, Asia and Middle East, we conducted a newspaper content analysis, and identified 19 eligible newspaper articles out of 198 articles published from 2008 to 2021. We also conducted a systematic search of studies published in peer-reviewed journals over the same period to determine the extent to which scientific papers on the climate crisis on medicinal plants published over the same period were being cited by the analysed newspaper articles. Of the 478 papers identified, 52 were published from Asian and African countries and were considered eligible. None of the 52 scientific papers were cited by any of the 19 newspaper articles, an indication that studies focusing on medicinal plants’ extinction resulting from climate change were not getting publicity in newspapers. The surprisingly few newspaper articles on the subject may indicate a lack of transdisciplinary initiatives, partnerships, and relationships between stakeholders including journalists and researchers in Africa, Asia and the Middle East working to highlight how climate change is negatively impacting medicinal plants. Therefore, we propose advocacy strategies for promoting media coverage of the climate crisis and its impacts on medicinal plants.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278223000147Medicinal plants extinctionClimate changeResearchers-journalists collaborationsadvocacy |
| spellingShingle | Bernard Appiah Isaac Kingsley Amponsah Md Koushik Ahmed Gursimar Kaur Singh Merlin Lincoln Kwao Mensah Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action The Journal of Climate Change and Health Medicinal plants extinction Climate change Researchers-journalists collaborations advocacy |
| title | Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action |
| title_full | Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action |
| title_fullStr | Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action |
| title_short | Transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants: Evidence from content analysis, and recommendations for action |
| title_sort | transdisciplinary collaborations to highlight media advocacy on climate change impacts on medicinal plants evidence from content analysis and recommendations for action |
| topic | Medicinal plants extinction Climate change Researchers-journalists collaborations advocacy |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278223000147 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bernardappiah transdisciplinarycollaborationstohighlightmediaadvocacyonclimatechangeimpactsonmedicinalplantsevidencefromcontentanalysisandrecommendationsforaction AT isaackingsleyamponsah transdisciplinarycollaborationstohighlightmediaadvocacyonclimatechangeimpactsonmedicinalplantsevidencefromcontentanalysisandrecommendationsforaction AT mdkoushikahmed transdisciplinarycollaborationstohighlightmediaadvocacyonclimatechangeimpactsonmedicinalplantsevidencefromcontentanalysisandrecommendationsforaction AT gursimarkaursingh transdisciplinarycollaborationstohighlightmediaadvocacyonclimatechangeimpactsonmedicinalplantsevidencefromcontentanalysisandrecommendationsforaction AT merlinlincolnkwaomensah transdisciplinarycollaborationstohighlightmediaadvocacyonclimatechangeimpactsonmedicinalplantsevidencefromcontentanalysisandrecommendationsforaction |