The much-awaited winners of the Shal’Artem Knockout Malaria Dance Challenge have emerged.
The organisers of the competition, Shalina Healthcare Nigeria, announced the winners in Lagos.
Speaking on the dance challenge, Shalina Clifford, Chief Executive Officer, Shalina Healthcare, said the challenge was a social initiative principally to make meaningful contributions to health development in Nigeria by raising awareness about malaria.
She said; “The mission of the company is to provide quality medicine that is affordable and available. The dance challenge is a social initiative in this direction, sponsored by Shal’Artem, a brand of Shalina Healthcare to raise awareness about malaria.”
In the same vein, Chiuba Nwosu, Shalina Healthcare brand manager, said the challenge goes beyond dance, but about awareness on one of the major deadly diseases that have been ravaging the society for long.
“The essence of the dance challenge is to ensure that the majority of the people are aware that malaria can be kicked out within three days through Shal’Artem. The fact is that about 32% globally are currently affected by malaria and in this, Nigeria is very prominent. So the idea of the challenge is to use social media as a platform to engage the people on this issue and this has been very productive.”
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Speaking on the process of the challenge, Nwosu said; the #KnockoutMalariain3daysdancechallenge received an overwhelming entry which has indeed raised the conversation and social engagement about solutions to malaria. Through the initiative the Shal’Artem brand empowered individuals to create and share their own dance content across their social media handles using the Shal’Artem jingle. Quite notable is the role played by the Shal’Artem Brand Ambassador Broda Shaggy, as his effort generated public discussion about the attainment of #ZeroMalariatargetinNigeria. The participants were made to try to mimic Broda Shaggy’s dance. They dance and try to beat Broda Shaggy’s “Shally Dance” with the jingle provided. The participants were however encouraged to be as creative as possible.”
Unveiling the winners, Nwosu said, “Total prize money of N1.8 million was won by twelve contestants. And the winners were selected based on the dance content with the highest views, likes and engagements across social media platforms.”
