Meet the Spring Fellows: Christopher Werth
By IRP Staff | March 09, 2012 | IRP
Last Saturday, Christopher Werth left for India on a global health reporting fellowship from IRP. He will explore the rise of chronic diseases, like heart ailments, in developing countries. India is particularly interesting in that regard because it is clearly a developing economy in transition, yet chronic diseases have already reached levels typical of far wealthier nations. The health system then faces daunting challenges in using limited resources to tackle large problems.
Werth’s goal is to produce good reporting out of India that illustrates the issue and goes beyond merely explaining it. India’s influence in global economics and politics is growing rapidly, and it there is a lot going on in such a large country. Werth also feels a personal connection to chronic health issues, since his father passed away from heart disease. As a radio reporter who frequently contributes to “marketplace” radio, Werth will take listeners in to Indian homes and hospitals.
International reporting is inherently difficult. Christopher is based in London, and even in Europe he finds himself taking 10 minutes to explain American public radio to contacts. Before he left for the trip, he was staying up until 2:00 a.m. regularly to make phone calls to India in preparation for the trip. Some foreign entities have press offices familiar with U.S. and European journalists, but he has no idea how comfortable Indian organizations will be with Western press standards. Now that he is on the ground, he is optimistic about his ability to overcome barriers and report on his subjects.
Christopher will report in Mumbai and Delhi, and he will also travel to Chennai or Bangalore if circumstances allow. He looks forward to visiting the Public Health Foundation of India, which does training and policy planning in health care. The Foundation is trying to extend health care access throughout a country in which around 80 percent of the population has no insurance and pays private medical providers out of pocket. The UK National Health Service could serve as a model for this expansion.