For the second time in a week, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has won Effie MENA award for its diabetes awareness campaign implemented last year under the theme "Don’t Wait for Diabetes". MOH received the award during a ceremony held the day before yesterday in Dubai, UAE. The award is a part of Effie's awards series which aims to honor the best works in the field of creative marketing and its effectiveness in the impact and driving the change among the competent authorities in the Middle East.
In parallel with the World Diabetes Day celebrated annually on Feb. 14th, MOH has launched last year an awareness campaign under the theme: (Don't Wait for Diabetes), to brief target audience on type 2 diabetes, and how to prevent it by adopting healthy individual and communal lifestyles, based on raising the awareness about the importance of healthy food, physical exercise, and awareness of this preventable disease; to the contrary of what most people believe. The campaign also seeks to boost proper understanding of diabetes, to stress the family and community's responsibility towards health awareness programs, to foster a supportive environment for diabetics, and to boost both individual and community's knowledge on the disease, treatment options and health tips; given the increased numbers of diabetics worldwide, especially in the Kingdom.
On its twitter page, MOH has posted a film in which the hero is diabetic and he tries to use the community's unhealthy practices to empower himself. Yet, he encounters the positive changes of a healthy lifestyle due to exercising and following a balanced diet. As a result, he is disappointed, and decides immediate departure, which symbolizes a life free of disease.
In the same context, MOH has posted another video on (Woman and Diabetes), which includes successful experiences for diabetic women who positively live with it. A third video also tackled the first aid required for diabetic coma and treatment methods. Also, MOH has posted a number of posters and a series of awareness infographics.
It is noteworthy that MOH has launched its hashtag #don't_wait_for_diabetes (in Arabic #لاتنتظر_السكري) on its Twitter page. The campaign is activated through interactive awareness accounts, including: (@Alsokkari السكري) where a diabetic character interacts with sarcastic tweets; as a mechanism of reverse activation, and (@Alpancreas البنكرياس) where pancreas itself - with its knowledge and awareness - refutes the first account's tweets on what the body needs. This page interacts with users and replies to the tweets of those following unhealthy lifestyles. (@Alsokkari السكري) encourages people to adopt wrong practices while (@Alpancreas البنكرياس) refutes its views and motivates people to adopt the right practices.
KSA claims one of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes, while it is preventable. The Kingdom is the second highest in the Middle East, and is the seventh in the world for the rate of diabetes. There are about 3 million individuals in the pre-diabetes phase, which can be prevented only by adopting a healthy lifestyle.