The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Office for Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore and the Wikimedia Community User Group in Malaysia have launched the first ever article writing competition seeking to increase awareness and coverage of multiple health topics in the Malay language on Wikipedia.
By increasing the amount of verified information in Malay on Wikipedia, the organizations aim to help ensure that critical public health information is accessible to Malaysians in their native language, narrowing the language gap and increasing levels of health awareness for the public, as well as providing a platform for participants to freely develop their health literacy and improve their research and writing skills.
“This competition is an excellent opportunity for the people in Malaysia to not only showcase their own interests and writing skills, but to help increase the overall health literacy of their fellow Malaysians. In times of great uncertainty, sharing accurate information bears almost the same weight as any other health intervention, and WHO welcomes Wikimedia’s initiative and partnership in expanding the public’s access to the latest and most reliable information on various health topics,” said Dr Lo Ying-Ru, WHO Representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.
In line with the competition, article submissions will be welcomed on different topics including those related to COVID-19, vaccine-preventable diseases, tuberculosis prevention and treatment cardiovascular diseases, nutrition, noncommunicable diseases and many more. The competition began on 7 April on World Health Day and will last for a month, at which point a panel of judges will review the articles and select winners and award certificates of recognition of participation within the following two weeks.
“WHO has already collaborated with the Wikimedia Foundation on a global level in a joint effort to provide accurate information related to COVID-19. Hence, it is only natural and necessary for us to follow the same steps at the local level and continue this partnership. To that end, we have organized the very first health writing competition, WikiSihat, in an effort to deal with the lack of complete and accessible health information and health articles in Malay on Wikipedia. It is important to make this vital information available in all languages. Through this collaboration and with our shared cause, we can increase health literacy among Malaysians and fight the misinformation that is so detrimental to society's health,” said Mohd Taufik bin Rosman, Deputy Secretary of Wikimedia CUG Malaysia.
About Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia
The Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, and also a partner of Wikimedia Foundation, with the goal to support, promote, and educate the general public about the availability and use of free and open educational content, which includes the ability to access, develop and contribute to Wikimedia projects.
For more information about the competition please visit: https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiSihat