Excellence in Continuous Development: Education Services for Global or Emerging Markets

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 world’s seventh biggest killer. They also wanted to drive the initiation of national hepatitis strategies.

Launched on World Hepatitis Day, our Hepatitis: Think Again campaign 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 stigma head-on.

We created myth-debunking posters and launched our campaign at the 53-nation Commonwealth Games - where we built the world’s largest Tweet Wall. 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 singable. A puppet band video of our theme song went viral on YouTube, reaching nearly 750,000 views.

Most importantly 157 countries and 87 governments joined our campaign, calling for action, among them Barack Obama and David Cameron. It was the most engaged World Hepatitis Day to date, reaching 148 million people via Twitter, as well as generating 3,875 media articles. 

Judges' comments

World Hepatitis Alliance is clearly addressing an important global problem. This initiative has significant reach and engagement and makes comprehensive use of social media. They had ambitious goals, which were exceeded.