How do you fight against the stigmatization of a disease?
Challenge
HIV is a virus that can be treated if and when people have access to the right forms of treatment. However, some people living with HIV do not test or treat themselves, as this may shed a negative light on them.
The task was to dissociate a medical condition from years of stigmatization so that HIV could finally cease being an epidemic by 2030.
A new name changes attitudes towards the disease
Solution
The call to find a new name for HIV received a lot of attention and resulted in many reactions. +600.000 readers were exposed to the printed open letter. The campaign won vocal public support from key figures in HIV prevention and research. More than 2.600 students attended Update HIV workshops in South Africa and Namibia. On April 7th, 2023, F/A/Q met with the CDC and the Biden administration to discuss launching Update HIV in the US.
12 million people were reached through earned media, with 100% of mentions including the campaign’s key message. There were more than 210k minutes of watch time, and over 4.9M interactions on social media.
„It is a great pleasure to work on such an important topic and with such a dynamic team from the F/A/Q Foundation. A great challenge to balance the creation of a cultural movement in the general public and amongst the key decision makers.“
Client Lead
Serviceplan
Key Facts
Key Takeaways
#1
Need for a long breath to make the change a reality.
#2
Do field work with the key decision makers.
