22 health fellows inagurated across 7 countries in Africa

The low training ground and underinvestment in health professionals in Africa has led to the prediction of shortfall of 6.1 million. This is why the fellowship of health professionals in Africa was organized by Dr Tesleemah Abdulkareem, the founder of Wiki Health Africa and her team members Taofeeq, Abdullah, Taoheedah and Eunice Ameh.

The Health Editors Fellowship Program is a pan-African capacity-building initiative designed to strengthen the quality, neutrality, and reliability of health-related content on Wikimedia platforms. In late November, 2025 there was call for participation across different countries in Africa, this was widely propagated by different Media house including Native Media Africa, Media consults, Ican student, Global Investigative Journalism Network with over 34,000 network based in Kampala, Uganda. This led to the submission of 209 participants across 11 countries in Africa with over 40% submission from Nigeria followed by 20% submission from Ghana. Other countries include Gambia, Somalia, Tanzania, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Niger and Cameroon.

The fellowship started with the onboarding of selected participants across 11 countries. The session was held on the 29th of November, 2025 with the health experts enthusiastic about what the fellowship has to offer. At the onboarding session, the participants were told the criteria to earn the fellowship which include:

• Have a Wikipedia username
• Attend virtual onboarding session.
• Attend at least 2 out of 3 community and regional sessions.
• Complete 2 out of 4 Wiki short courses (Certificate as Evidence).
• Study 1 out of the 7 resources provided.
• Media personnel selected should document the summary of the health project (Using the neutrality and verifiability rules learnt during the fellowship- To be reviewed by the project lead)

On the 7th of December, 2025 the 1st community session of the project was held with Dr James Heilman, the chairman of Wiki Project Medicine and Chinti Chathurika, the translation coordinator. The duo enlightened the health professionals on how to contribute to medical articles in their local languages and an overview to what Wiki Project Medicine entails.

The first regional panelist session was held on the 19th of December, 2025 with an interactive community discussion held with 3 community leaders in Africa. The community leaders, John Joy, The Ex-UI fan club leader From Nigeria, Ruby D-brown, the  Co-founder of Africa Wiki Women from Ghana and Gayo Bah, the Founder of Wikimedia Gambia User Group share with the community, the ways to join wikimedia community in their respective community, how to edit medical contents in local languages and challenges entailed in contributing to free knowledge.

The last regional session was held on the 26th of December, 2025 where AbdulRauf shared the lessons learnt and experiences gained from leading medical community in Ghana.

The 22 health fellows across 7 countries include:

1. Temiyemi Sherif Alao (Pharmacist), Nigeria

2. Seimawu Sugri Seidu (Health Information Officer), Ghana

3. Dr. Peculiar Osayemere Idiagbonya (Optometrist), Nigeria

4. Kamal Alao Ashimiyu (Medical Radiographer), Nigeria

5. Faisal Ali (Editor), Ghana

6. Mohammed Zainab Ovayioza (Health Educator), Nigeria

7. Bukeka Mkhosi (Project Coordinator), South-Africa

8. Mukoh Geraldine Nchang  (Medical laboratory Scientist), Cameroon

9. Abdulsalam Rukayat Anuoluwapo (Speech and Language Pathologist), Nigeria

10. Oseni Lateefah Adebola (Student Optometrist), Nigeria

11. Fuseini Jemir Shamir (Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science), Ghana

12. Fabrice Kabamba Ngalamulume (Journaliste), Democratic Republic of Congo

13. Dr. Mugenyi Nathan (Global Health Researcher), Uganda

14. Eunice Ameh (Student Optometrist), Nigeria

15. KASOZI DENIS (SOFTWARE DEVELOPER), UGANDA

16. MUNKAILA RIDWAN (Nutritionist), Ghana

17. Ragadawu Alhassan (Pharmacist), Ghana

18. NAHURIRA DAPHINE (Teacher), Uganda

19. Maureen LD Owusu-Addae (Assistant Nurse Manager), Ghana

20. Temiyemi Sherif Alao (Pharmacist), Nigeria

21. Dr Abubakar Bakiru Wabi (Doctor), Nigeria

22. Fifamè Laurence Esther ADJAHOSSOU (English-French Translator), Benin

In summary, the Health Editors Fellowship Program is a pan-African capacity-building initiative designed to strengthen the quality, neutrality, and reliability of health-related content on Wikimedia platforms. The project brought together 30 health professionals from different regions of Africa, including East, West, North, and Southern Africa, to participate in structured training and collaborative knowledge-sharing activities focused on health information editing.

The fellowship was delivered through a series of online sessions that introduced participants to Wikimedia’s core principles, including neutrality, verifiability, and the use of reliable secondary sources. Fellows were trained on how to identify gaps in existing health content, evaluate sources, and contribute accurate, well-referenced information that reflects African health contexts while meeting Wikimedia community standards. After the fellowship, 22 health professionals were inaugurated to health misinformation in their respective countries.