Story & photos by Lyn Resurreccion | Green Section Editor
SEOUL, South Korea—The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) currently affecting South Korea, nuclear technology, genetically modified organisms, stem cells, future of science journalism, covering Ebola epidemic, nurturing young science journalists, and comics and journalism.
These were just some of the topics discussed in the ninth World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ), hosted by the Korean Science Journalists Association in Seoul, South Korea, from June 8 to 11.
One of the global events in science journalism, WCSJ was attended by 1,200 journalists covering science issues, and experts.
The conference had three plenary sessions, 40 parallel academic sessions and keynote speeches by prominent journalists and scholars.
With urgent concerns on MERS, the conference held a special session on the topic with Kee-jong Hong, director of Institut Pasteur Korea, and Dr. Sung-han Kim, associate professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Asan Medical Center, leading the discussions.
They said although research is still being done to fully understand the virus, people in open spaces “don’t have to worry too much” because the virus is not airborne.
They said the infections occurred in the hospitals where the index patient from the Middle East went. Those who died were already very ill before they had MERS.
The experts said the transmission of the infection in the hospitals occurred because of the South Koreans’ culture of taking care of their sick family members, and because of the crowded hospital rooms.
Hong said the occurrence of MERS could be forecasted during the cold season with the birth of camels—the suspected source of MERS. The young camels in the Middle East catch cold during the cold weather. He said the number of infection goes down as the temperature goes up. The annual General Assembly of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) was also held during the conference.
The federation, which has 9,000 science journalists as members from all over the world, welcomed its 51st member, the society of Indonesian Science Journalists led by Harry Surjadi as executive director.
The Philippine Science Journalists Association Inc. (PSciJourn), which has been a member of the federation for several years now, attended the General Assembly. It was represented by this editor, a past president of PSciJourn.
Damien Chalaud, WFSJ executive director, reported that 140 journalists were trained in 50 countries, three online courses on science journalism, Ebola virus and viral Hepatitis were held, and eight global conferences were organized.
The online science journalism training included the Science Journalists Cooperation-Asia which trained 22 aspiring science journalists.
The General Assembly announced the winning of the United States in the bidding to host the 10th WCSJ in San Francisco, California, in 2017. The bidding was made by the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. The other bidder was the Danish Science Journalists’ Association for Copenhagen.
Image credits: Lyn Resurreccion