Under the patronage of H. E. the Health Minister, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has honored winners of the Awareness Award "Wa3i" Award, yesterday (Monday) at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Riyadh. They are 10 winners of the award's categories, namely: "short films, motion graphics, infographic designs, photography, Snape Chat and school participations".
Addressing the ceremony, Al-Rabiah pointed out that one of the Saudi Vision 2030 objectives is to have life expectancy raised from 74 to 80 years. "Such objective is challenging and with the development of hospitals and provision of the best health and therapeutic services, these objectives can only be achieved through awareness and enhancement of the health of the community, which is an essential part to achieve a qualitative leap in the health of citizens" He pointed out to the different aspects of health, including lifestyle change, quitting smoking, car accidents and healthy food. All these factors increase life span, Allah willing, adds Al-Rabiah.
He applauded the award, particularly the achievements of its second season during which participations increased form hundreds to thousands. The award showed us how marvelous our participations are, the matter which benefited us and impacted our lives. He expressed his happiness about the Gulf participations in this season, as well as the participation of schools which added a value to the award. Al-Rabiah extended his thanks to the award's sponsor, the National Commercial Bank and appreciated their interest in supporting the health awareness. This will make MOH continues with the award until, during the upcoming five years, becomes an international award that has a global impact on community health. He pointed out to the role of awareness in changing lifestyles, citing the example of the anti-smoking campaign launched at the beginning of last Ramadan, after which visitors to anti-smoking clinics increased by 231%. As a result of such tremendous shift we will continue with our campaigns, he concluded.
Then, Al-Rabiah honored winners of the award's different categories. The grand prize of SR 150,000, in short films, went to Faisal Al-Dewaisan from Kuwait, Al-Rowad Secondary School won the first place worth SR 100,000, in schools category and Fouad Al-Hatlan won the first place, in motion graphics, and SR 70,000. The first place in photography worth SR 50,000 went to Jawad al Abbas, the first place in infographic designs worth SR 50,000 to Hanin Al-Zahrani and the first place in Snape Chat worth 20,000 to Abdullah Al-Alawi.
It is noteworthy that MOH has launched the second season of the Awareness Award “Wa3i" in collaboration with the National Commercial Bank, and 5 categories have been allocated for the GCC States. Also, one category has been allocated for Kingdom's schools. Over 50 winners have received cash prizes of more than one million riyals.
The award aims to promote the community's health awareness, to capitalize on youths' potentials, and to boost partnership between the community and all awareness stakeholders across the Kingdom and the GCC states.