The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced the continuation of receiving nominations for the Gulf Excellence Award in Health Media for the year 1436H, under the theme: "Reducing the Risk of Diabetes Complications".
The MOH's Spokesman, Faisal bin Saeed Al-Zahrani, revealed that the award aims at achieving several goals, including fostering the spirit of innovation and creativity among the workers and those who are interested in the fields of health awareness and health media in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The award also encourages creative minds to contribute to prevention and health promotion, by means of affecting individuals and community groups, and urging them to adopt proper, healthy behaviors.
Among the objectives set for this Award, according to Al-Zahrani, are: attracting the attention of the governmental media institutions, strengthening the partnership with the private media institutions, supporting the outstanding efforts aimed at developing the health awareness programs in the GCC states level, improving skills of workers in the health awareness domain, and highlighting the leading efforts and effective initiatives of individuals and institutions involved in the health awareness domain, in order to boost the Gulf citizen’s health.
Moreover, other objectives of the award include contributing to the achievement of the strategic objectives of health plans in the GCC states, prompting the Gulf calibers towards innovation and excellence in the field of health media, showing appreciation to the outstanding talents and competences in health media, and reinforcing the spirit of competition among workers in health mass media, in addition to laying down a scientific basis for health media information. "This year, for the first time, media institutions in the GCC states that have significant contributions to health awareness, especially in the fields of printed, audio and video media, will be honored," Al-Zahrani revealed.
Al-Zahrani added that the Gulf Excellence Award for Health Media for the year 1436H focuses on excellence in health awareness through seven fields and media: posters, social networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), short TV promos, short radio promos, websites, integrated media campaign, and electronic applications.
Within the same vein, Al-Zahrani called upon media professionals in the government, private health institutions, or any other institutions to participate in the contest, and prioritize the health issue as an integral part of their social responsibility. According to Al-Zahrani, eligible entrants are: non-profit civil society institutions (CSIs), governmental organizations, private sector organizations, and media organizations, in addition to the citizens or residents with individual innovations.
Al-Zahrani said:“The selection criteria for the award indicates that the nominated work should be related to health-promotion visions and strategies, which are dedicated this year to awareness and health-promoting patterns in the field of diabetes prevention. The work should have all the artistic elements complete, with the clear vision and mission it seeks to achieve for society. Also, it must adopt a new or innovative idea, or develop a well-known idea, be of interactive viability for the targeted group, and more importantly, introduce scientifically credible content,” He also noted that the work must be of high quality as far as the design is concerned. Additionally, it must have been produced in 1436H or the previous year, and not nominated for the contest before. Finally, he indicated the deadline for receiving entries, which is Safar 5th, 1437H (corresponding to November 17th, 2015), stressing that the nominated works will be the property of the award, and that the entrant has no right of retrieval.