The Langland Award for Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships

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Highly Commended

New Normal Same Cancer – Reversing the COVID-19 Effect on Cancer Care

by MHP Communications for AstraZeneca Global

Summary of work

A steering committee of global patient advocacy groups (PAGs) worked with AstraZeneca, Engine | MHP and GCI Health - alongside creatives, videographers and policy experts - to co-develop a campaign urging people with possible cancer symptoms to seek medical care, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
During 2020, cancer diagnosis fell globally by approximately 40%. This was caused in part by people’s fear of contracting COVID-19 in healthcare settings.
Across the globe, the pandemic deterred people from seeking medical attention for new symptoms or attending routine checks.
To explore how the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care could be minimised, we convened a steering committee of advocates globally and launched an awareness campaign with the simple call to action: Don’t wait. Contact your doctor. Get checked.
Central video assets were designed and created with weekly offline and virtual meeting input from the steering committee.
This video content was then localised at a country level and local PAGs were encouraged to tailor the campaign to their needs and local health systems.
Assets were made available in October 2020 and the campaign was rolled out in more than 40 countries before the year end. The campaign slogan has reached more than 1 billion people across the world.

To date, the program has successfully generated and leveraged data through newly established channels and partnerships with engaged stakeholders. The program has already successfully influenced clinical practice and policy at global, country and clinic levels via novel insights and targeted, patient-focused solutions. Adherence is gaining the attention it has long needed, and real-world outcomes will improve as a result.

Judges’ comments

The only way to address the concerning disruption of cancer services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic was to act fast and together. This entry demonstrated those qualities in spades. Managing to launch a well-executed campaign in four weeks, whilst paying close attention to ensuring that it was a partnership effort driven by a wide range of organisations, and then delivering it across 44 countries, showcased great skill as well as determination.  The entry was written in a way that meant as judges we could effortlessly assess the impact of the work, and the detail behind the country activation outputs added welcome colour. Overall an excellent piece of work that is worthy of celebration.