As part of the ongoing campaign to help eradicate the stigma around mental health, Cipla and the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) are proud to announce the winners of this year’s Cipla Mental Health Journalism Awards.
These awards – given to print, electronic and online media – help bring to light stories that may otherwise go unheard, at a time where statistics show that one in three South Africans will or do suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lifetime .
First started over two decades ago by former American first lady Rosalynn Carter, these awards have helped raise vital awareness on a topic often ignored by media, helping to lift the stigma associated with mental health issues and give the public reliable information around mental illness.
The winners this year include journalists from mainstream media through to vital community newspapers and radio stations on topics as varied as mental health issues in the LGBTQI+ communities to youth suicide and dealing with bereavement.
With an emphasis on diversity and the communities their projects will cover, the winners were carefully selected by a panel including mental health professionals and journalists.
We are proud to announce the following list of winners:
| CATEGORY | NAME | PROJECT IDEA |
| ONLINE | James de Villiers (News 24.com) | Series of articles for News24.com community (6 million readers) focussed on LGTBQI+ and mental health eradicating stigma, hate crime, trauma and violence |
| BROADCAST | Saziso Dlamini (Radio Khwezi) | Educating youth in rural communities about mental health and destigmatising mental illness.(Radio by youth for the youth) |
| Claire Keeton (Sunday Times) | Youth, mental health and suicide | |
| PRINT – SADAG FOUNDERS AWARD | Mark Scheepers (New Media Publishing) | Covering a range of mental health issues in local community newspapers in Soweto, Coronationville and Westbury |
| CIPLA CHOICE AWARD | Prabashni Naicker (SABC Radio) | Diversity of topics including anger management, mental health, gender-based violence, loss of loved ones, access to treatment, etc. reaching 21 million radio listeners across 18 radio stations in SA |
