Excellence in Healthcare Collaboration and Partnerships

Summary of work

Until recently, advanced breast cancer (ABC) sufferers had increasingly found themselves alienated in breast cancer forums and social media, with their stories ignored by mainstream media. Novartis wanted to shift perceptions and create a societal and political landscape that would give a voice to women with ABC and ultimately lead to better care for patients.

To support Novartis in this strategy, Virgo Health developed the ‘Here & Now’ campaign, to champion women with ABC, to rally public support and improve the care and services available. Here & Now recognises that these women are making a valuable contribution to society, to communities and to their families; here and now. Giving patients a compelling platform from which to share their stories had never been tried before - but it proved to be critical in shifting dismissive attitudes.

Collaboration has been integral to the campaign’s success. Here & Now has brought together and fused an eclectic group of high profile stakeholders including six clinicians and three nurses, 10 patient groups, three members of European Parliament, five payers and health economists, and three patients. They all share one common drive: to raise the profile of women living with ABC and improve the patient journey.

Judges' comments

Here & Now harnessed compelling communications to really stand out from similar projects, thanks to the broad scope of the collaboration, good patient-centricity, a clear patient need, along with good creativity. There is a massive appetite for this and people are committed to it - it stands out and ticked a lot of boxes.