Swissinfo wins prize for excellence in health journalism

Swissinfo journalists were awarded second place in the 2024/25 Semmelweis-Richter Journalism Award for their article on how sex and gender are often overlooked in drug development. The prize was awarded in the “Pharmacological Strategies and Innovation” category.

In the article, Drugmakers are finally making medicine for women, Swissinfo journalist Jessica Davis Plüss highlights how medicine is often developed without women in mind, and the serious consequences for women’s health. Men still dominate many clinical trials for diseases that disproportionally affect women. Even when there is gender balance in studies, differences in the efficacy and safety for men and women are rarely considered in the approval and prescribing information for drugs.

There’s now a movement, including in Switzerland, to change this, writes Davis Plüss in the article. Data journalist Pauline Turuban and picture editor Helen James – both members of Swissinfo’s editorial team – were also involved in the production of the winning article.

This is the first edition of the Semmelweis-Richter Journalism Award (SRJA)External link. The organising committee, which included Semmelweis University in Budapest and the Hungarian pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter, received some 70 entries from across Europe. A total of six prizes were awarded in two categories: “Pharmacological Strategies and Innovation” and “Women’s Health”.

The organisers sought stories that help raise awareness about unmet medical needs and stigmatised diseases within society, cultivate open social discourse, and/or ultimately lead to improved treatment and understanding. Other winners included journalists from The Times, Wired UK, Süddeutche Zeitung, the Irish Times, and the Italian science magazine Focus.

At the award ceremony held in Budapest on June 5, Béla Merkely, Rector of Semmelweis University, highlighted the critical role of responsible and insightful health reporting, especially in today’s complex information landscape. “By launching the Semmelweis-Richter Journalism Award, we also aim to play a cross-border role in promoting health education and awareness, befitting the international character of our university,” said Merkely. 

Mark Livingston, editor-in-chief of Swissinfo, said that this award is a recognition of high-quality journalism at a time when balanced, fact-based information is needed. “Pharmaceuticals and healthcare are very important sectors of the Swiss economy,” said Livingston. “Swissinfo’s reporting on access to medicine and health innovation are critical to building trust and supporting dialogue between Switzerland and the world.”