World Hepatitis Day 2017 Campaign: Creating Certainty
In Switzerland, 80,000 people are living with hepatitis C or hepatitis B. Yet half are unaware of their own infection. To mark World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the Swiss Hepatitis Strategy Network is offering a free hepatitis test to anyone at risk. The campaign was designed by Life Science Communication.
Hepatitis C and B can be treated or cured. The problem: Only about half of those infected know that they are infected with one of the dangerous hepatitis viruses. Undetected and untreated hepatitis can have dire consequences: Over decades, severe diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer can develop, which may even require a liver transplant. Many people also suffer from fatigue, poor concentration or other symptoms that impair their quality of life.
Create certainty
That's why the Swiss Hepatitis Strategy offers a free test to anyone at risk. A prior risk check on hepatitis-schweiz.ch provides information about past risks. These are manifold and often date back several years. The most important are: Receiving blood or blood products in hospital before 1990, injecting or sniffing drugs, tattoos or piercing applied under insufficiently hygienic conditions. Hepatitis B is also transmissible through unprotected sexual intercourse.
"If someone has had a risk situation or is unsure about this, then he or she should definitely take a test," says Andrea de Gottardi, a hepatologist at Bern's Inselspital. "This is the only way we can diagnose and treat those affected in time and thus prevent severe consequences of hepatitis."
Anyone who receives a recommendation for a hepatitis test at the end of the online risk check will receive a voucher and can redeem it at various partner laboratories or partner testing centers throughout Switzerland until the end of September.
Years from 1950 to 1985 particularly affected
Hepatitis C particularly affects people born between 1950 and 85. The campaign is promoted with a key visual that matches the "target group": a music cassette, a tape salad and the words "Greatest Risks 1950 - 1985". The campaign is present on social media channels with an explanatory video and as flyers and posters in doctors' offices and treatment centers. The campaign will run through the end of September 2017.
Responsible at Swiss Hepatitis Strategy: Bettina Maeschli. Responsible at Life Science Communication: Fabienne Schöpfer, Mark Bächer, Carolin Calefi Dias and Ludwig Zeller.
