 As a global community celebrate World Press Freedom Day, various challenges confronted practitioners during the ravaging coronavirus have been highlighted. These issues were brought to the fore at a virtual conference organised by the US Consulate, themed frontiers of health reporting, new insights, fresh perspectives to mark the day. Plus TV Africa's correspondent Hitchi Uwe Hidaneuels monitors the webinar. The role of a free and independent press has been highlighted as more important than ever, especially in the quest to fight COVID-19. The US Consul General Claire Pirangelo, in her remarks, pointed out that the public depends largely on reports from journalists in print, audiovisual and online media. We all know that a free press is essential to a healthy democracy. The news media can be a powerful force for change. It can effectively fulfil the role of a watchdog, a gatekeeper and an agenda setter. It can improve governance by raising citizen awareness of social issues, by enabling citizens to hold their governments to account, to curb corruption and to create a civic forum for debate. Head of research and policy advisory, Abel Akeny, spoke on the topic, follow the money tracking and analysing public health budgets. He leased the reasons for tracking public health budgets and according to him, the government has a lot of health infrastructure to invest in but limited resources. Unfortunately, the country has very limited resources, such that if we even allocate our entire budget to just healthcare alone, we would not be able to even bring the quality of healthcare to an adequate standard befitting of our population. So that's one of the reasons why it's important to ensure that the little money that is available is effectively utilised to ensure that citizens get value for money. Another speaker, founder and editor of Fountain for Investigative Journalism, Fisayo Shoyombo, shares his experiences in telling impactful investigative health stories. He highlights the fact that no story is worth any life of a journalist. We are in unique times, we are in perilous times. There is a pandemic and the first, let me say the surest place, the likeliest place of contracting this virus is still the hospital because that's where people who have the virus report to. The life of a journalist is not less important than that of a doctor. So whatever story you're working on, it's a pandemic. If there is no protection, there is no story. As these participants look forward to a safe place to practise their trade, it is imperative to remind their employer to prioritise their wellbeing while discharging statutory duties. Uchechi Uwehi Daniel reporting for Plus TV Africa.