Verah Vashti Okeyo on Muck Rack

Verah Vashti Okeyo

Eindhoven, Nairobi
As seen in: Defrontera, LinkedIn, Medium, Africa Renewal, The Guardian, Quartz, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Daily Nation, Nairobi News, Inter Press Service, The Standard (Kenya) and
Covers:  Science Policy, Global Health and Medicine; Psychology; Technology; Environment, climate change and agriculture; Education; Gender, Diversity and Inclusion; Media, Culture and Entertainment
Doesn't Cover: Politics
CEO @defronteramedia | Schools @medialse, BA @maseno_uni, PhD-ing medical anthro @uonbi | @Prince, Celine Dion & Darlene Zschech superfan

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Verah Vashti Okeyo’s Biography

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*Science reporter based in Nairobi Kenya, covering science (global health, science policy, science and society) in East Africa.

*Media researcher focusing on digital interruption in the media, the political economy of the media.

*Media trainer and has worked with the Ministry of Health of Kenya, Action Against Hunger, APHRC

Verah Vashti Okeyo’s Journalist Portfolio

Maternal deaths in Kenya's largest referral hospital

Maternal deaths in Kenya's largest referral hospital

Using data to tell how the wrong referral system kills children in Kenya's largest hospital

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INDEPTH: Antibiotic abuse in livestock raises drug resistance

INDEPTH: Antibiotic abuse in livestock raises drug resistance

By VERAH OKEYO Summary Reliance on quacks to treat domestic animals exposes Kenyan consumers to bacteria-rela…

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Unequal sharing of doctors hurting Kenya's healthcare

Unequal sharing of doctors hurting Kenya's healthcare

By VERAH OKEYO Summary Nearly 50 per cent of doctors and 70 per cent of dentists based in Nairobi, shows new …

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The great armyworm invasion

The great armyworm invasion

This foreign pest has just invaded Kenyan farms, and nobody knows what to do about it. Tighten your belt, it'…

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Bees, butterflies face extinction, threatening Kenya food production

Bees, butterflies face extinction, threatening Kenya food production

This article shows how the decline of bees is threatening food security in Kenya

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Articles

New Gates-backed funding targets gaps in childhood diarrhoeal death estimates

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By Verah Vashti Okeyo
| Defrontera
Throughout his career, microbiologist Professor Sam Kariuki has explored many fields, but he has never taken his eye off one: the microorganisms that live in the intestines and cause diarrhoea. Prof Kariuki and his colleagues in Kenya have generated a lot of research about diarrhoeal diseases: which pathogens cause severe illness in different parts of the country and how some have developed resistance to medicines designed to treat them.
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Kenya plans to rotate frontline malaria drugs amid resistance fears

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By Verah Vashti Okeyo
| Defrontera
The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Kenya has finalised plans to rotate first-line malaria treatments, as growing evidence shows that the country’s most widely used treatment falls short of the World Health Organization's (WHO) cure threshold. By rotating four artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) every two to three years, the Ksh 1.98 billion (about $US 15.4 million) strategy wants to slow the spread of drug-resistant malaria parasites before widespread treatment failures emerge.
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Ministry of Health official: Poor quality of care, not funding, drives Kenya’s maternal mortality crisis.

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By Verah Vashti Okeyo
| Defrontera
Preventing more than 5,000 mothers from dying every year in childbirth is not difficult, says Issak Bashir, a medic and Head of Family Health in Kenya, because “it is not a money issue; it is a mindset issue.” In April last year, Dr Bashir told Defrontera that he received a confidential tip about a referral hospital where 18 mothers had died in three months. He visited the hospital and spent nine hours reviewing the files of the deceased women, after which he came to a conclusion.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Cameraman

Have you ever used a typewriter?

No

How is social media changing news?

News reaches people faster and journalists have to play "catch up"

Awards

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Annual Journalism Excellence Award (Media Council of Kenya)

2015 - Environmental award for print journalism

The Environmental reporting award was given to me by Media Council of Kenya which is the regulating body for journalists in Kenya.

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Annual Journalism Excellence Award (Media Council of Kenya)

2016 - Gender Reporting Award (Print Category)

This was awarded for reporting on men who are abused in Kenya. Winning story URL below

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Zimeo Excellence(African Media Initiative)

2015 - Science Reporting

Dr. Ameena Gurib- Fakim Award for Excellence in Media was sponsored by the Mauritian president

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Zimeo Excellence(African Media Initiative)

2015 - Science Reporting

Dr. Ameena Gurib- Fakim Award for Excellence in Media was sponsored by the Mauritian president

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