Initiative to Strengthen Reporting on NCDs Concluded

On 23 September 2026, the Integrated Health Services (IHS) Project and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) concluded their joint initiative “Beyond Headlines”. At a closing roundtable that brought journalists and health professionals, discussions centred on  how noncommunicable diseases can be covered with greater accuracy, context and attention to people’s experiences.

Opening the event, Linda Baleta, Senior Advocacy Expert at IHS, Getoarbë Mulliqi, Executive Director of AGK, and Dr Ardita Baraku, Director of the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, emphasised the importance of making health information accurate, understandable and grounded in professional expertise.

Panels featured journalists and health professionals involved in the initiative who reflected on the challenges of reporting complex health issues and the need to follow these stories beyond the daily news cycle. Their conversations explored how to make expert knowledge accessible, include patients’ voices and use journalism to inform public debate on the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

The event also featured a presentation by Dr. Baraku of a special issue of “Shëndeti” magazine, a publication of the National Institute for Public Health of Kosovo, containing all op-eds and journalists’ reports through this initiative, and a section on the NCD Leadership Course, organized by NIPH and IHS as part of the Prishtina International Summer University 2026. In a closing discussion, participants reflected on the initiative’s results and opportunities for continued cooperation between journalists and health professionals.

IHS and AGK thank the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, the Ministry of Health, the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, Peja General Hospital and Gjakova General Hospital for their expertise and continued contributions.