Finalist
Hepatitis: Think Again
Summary of work
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Hepatitis Alliance wanted to reach more people and educate them with lifesaving information about viral hepatitis, the seventh leading killer in the world. In May 2014 at the World Health Assembly, the WHO passed a resolution that all UN member states forge national hepatitis strategies.
This kick-started our campaign, Hepatitis: Think Again, which encouraged people to challenge perceptions about hepatitis, long stigmatised as a disease caught from dirty needles or tainted blood. Our goal: change minds, spur action and confront stigmas head-on.
We created myth-debunking posters, launched our campaign at the 53-nation Commonwealth Games. We used an innovative new social media platform, Thunderclap, to reach 14.5 million people through supporters such as WHO, UNICEF, The Guardian, Stephen Fry, Jack Whitehall and Dr Christian Jessen. To make our message memorable, we made it sing-able. A puppet band video of our theme song went viral on YouTube, reaching 750,000 views.
Most importantly 157 countries and 87 governments joined our campaign, calling for action, including Barack Obama and David Cameron. It was the most engaged World Hepatitis Day to date, reaching 148 million people via Twitter and sending SMS messages to 6.5 million across Africa.
Judges’ comments
The outputs for this entry were extraordinary - it had an impressively wide reach, was supported by both global leaders and patient groups and succeeded in changing attitudes. Enough said!
