Raising Women’s Voices in Health: Lessons from the Africa Health Communications Fellowship

The health sector is brimming with expertise, resilience, and untold stories—but too often, the voices shaping these narratives are not those of African women. At the inaugural lecture of the Africa Health Communications Fellowship, hosted by fraycollege, a powerful call emerged: it’s time for African communicators, journalists, and advocates to raise their voices and shape the health stories that matter.

Dr Ifeanyi Nsofor, a global health equity advocate and behavioural science expert

Delivered by Dr Ifeanyi Nsofor, a global health equity advocate and behavioural science expert, the session highlighted the critical role of storytelling in transforming public health outcomes. For women working across health and media, it offered a timely and energising reminder: our voices are not just valid—they’re vital.

Why Women’s Voices Matter in Health Communication

Women often lead healthcare delivery in communities, staff hospitals and clinics, care for families, and spearhead grassroots advocacy. Yet their experiences and insights remain underrepresented in public discourse, policy debates, and media narratives.

“Health communication is not a luxury—it’s essential,” Dr Nsofor reminded participants. And when women are sidelined from these conversations, the sector loses not only representation but also relevance.

Five Ways Women Can Raise Their Voice in Health

1. Own Your Expertise

Many women in health undervalue their experiences, assuming that only academic credentials give authority. But lived experience, frontline work, and local knowledge are powerful sources of insight. If you’ve been part of a health journey—as a worker, a communicator, a patient advocate—you have something important to say.

2. Use Storytelling as Strategy

Dr Nsofor urged participants to embrace storytelling as a tool for influence. “Telling our stories isn’t just advocacy—it’s our responsibility,” he said. Whether through op-eds, blogs, podcasts or social posts, women can shape how communities understand health, and how policy responds.

3. Collaborate Across Sectors

Media, medicine, and movement-building are stronger when they work together. Women communicators and health professionals can build alliances to amplify each other’s voices and ensure that messages are grounded in both science and social context.

4. Speak Even When It's Uncomfortable

Raising your voice—especially in male-dominated or hierarchical spaces—can be difficult. But silence doesn’t serve progress. As more women speak out, space widens for others to follow.

5. Support Each Other

Mentorship, solidarity, and collective platforms matter. This fellowship itself is an example of what happens when institutions invest in women’s capacity to lead the conversation.

The Role of the fraymedia Foundation

At the fraymedia Foundation, we are committed to amplifying women’s voices in media—especially in sectors like health, where representation has life-and-death consequences. Through programmes like this inaugural fellowship, and by spotlighting women communicators and advocates, we aim to build an ecosystem where women’s voices are not an exception—they are the norm.

Because when African women speak up, communities listen. When they lead, systems shift.

And when they tell their stories, the world changes.