Al Jalila Children's and Nickelodeon team up to raise asthma awareness

Sponge Bob Square Pants, Dora the Explorer, and Shimmer and Shine visited Al Jalila Children's on May 1.

Al Jalila Children's, the first dedicated children's hospital in the UAE, teamed up with Nickelodeon, the number-one kids' network, to raise awareness among children and parents about the challenges of asthma. The initiative, in line with Nickelodeon's 'Viacommunity Day' global initiative, marked the occasion of World Asthma Day on May 1. Latest statistics show that around 600 million people around the world suffer from asthma.
Sponge Bob Square Pants, Dora the Explorer, and Shimmer and Shine, Nickelodeon's most beloved characters, visited Al Jalila Children's on May 1, surprised its young patients, and took fun pictures with them. The famous characters also distributed asthma leaflets to children and families that contained valuable information about asthma and how to deal with it.
Tracey Grant, vice-president Content and Channels Middle East, said: "Viacommunity Day is an important global initiative for Viacom International Media Networks, with offices and employees participating in cities around the world to give back to their communities. Here in Dubai, we're very happy to be working with the Al Jalila Children's Hospital, using our favourite characters from the Nickelodeon brand to delight children here while raising awareness about World Asthma Day at the same time."
Farhad Siddiq, director - Marketing and Communication at Al Jalila Children's, said: "It was always a main objective for us at Al Jalila Children's to ensure that our young patients feel that, while being provided with world class paediatric health care, they are also in a fun and entertaining ambience. It very much helps with the healing process."
"Asthma is a serious illness that mostly starts at early stages of childhood, and it's very important that we tackle this issue and raise awareness among all families. We thank Nickelodeon for supporting us in achieving this objective, and we are more thankful for their efforts in drawing amazing smiles on the faces of children today."