McCann Health Wins A Grand Clio And D&AD Black Pencil For Immunity Charm™ Campaign

In June, The Immunity Charm™ was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix for Good at the 2017 Cannes Lions Health International Festival of Creativity. The campaign, which harnesses deep rooted cultural beliefs to save lives in Afghanistan, was further distinguished for having won the most awards ever for a single campaign at Lions Health. In addition to the Grand Clio, it picked up 3 more Golds and one Silver at the 2017 Clio Awards.

The Immunity Charm™ is founded on the longstanding traditional belief that bracelets confer protection against evil forces. It takes that idea and provides mothers with a compelling new incentive to get their children vaccinated. This simple bracelet consists of colored beads that represent the vaccines each child has received.  With each immunization a specific colored bead is added driving awareness of the importance of vaccines while working within trusted cultural belief systems. 

"Every year nearly 20 million children do not receive the vaccines they require to protect them from preventable diseases.  The Immunity Charm™ will help mothers and doctors be sure that every child gets the vaccines they need," said Dr. Daniel Carucci, Senior Medical Advisor, McCann Health and Dr. Harshit Jain, Country Head (INDIA), McCann Health, co-creators of The Immunity Charm™. 

Dr. Shafiqullah Hemat, Director of Health Promotion at the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health said: "In Afghanistan, we are faced with many traditional biases against vaccinations.  The Immunity Charm provides us with a simple and powerful tool that is based on the traditions in our communities so that we can create greater confidence in vaccines among mothers and their families.  It's a wonderful idea that will save the lives of many children."

John Cahill and Jeremy Perrott, Global CEO and Chief Creative Officer for McCann Health respectively said: "The partnership we have created between McCann Health and the Afghanistan MoPH has allowed us to delve deeply into cultural belief systems to create a solution that will become viral within the community because is comes from the community."

Prasoon Joshi, Chairman McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific CEO & CCO McCann Worldgroup India, said, "I'm very proud that The Immunity Charm has been recognized not only for creative excellence but for making a real and positive difference in the world. When an idea is seeded into culture and plays a meaningful role in people's life, the impact and salience is far reaching."

Healthcare workers provide The Immunity Charm™ to mothers to place on their newborn's wrist as a symbol of protection against disease.  Each time the child is brought for an immunization, a color-coded bead corresponding to the specific vaccine received is added to the bracelet symbolizing the protective effects of the vaccine.  As the child receives additional vaccines against such diseases as measles, polio, diphtheria, and others, color-coded beads are added to the bracelet. 

Afghanistan has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, which contribute to high levels of infant and childhood mortality especially in poor and rural communities.  Diseases that are rare in the developed world are far too frequent causes of child mortality in Afghanistan. 

Plans are being developed to test The Immunity Charm™ for effectiveness through a series of studies in Afghanistan, India, and other countries. 

About the Ministry of Public Health Afghanistan
The Mission of the Ministry of Public Health of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is to prevent ill health and achieve significant reductions in mortality in line with national targets and sustainable development goals and to reduce impoverishment due to catastrophic health expenditure. Also to be responsive to the rights of all citizens through improving access and utilization of quality, equitable, affordable health and nutrition services among all communities especially mothers and children in rural areas, and through changing attitudes and practices, promoting healthy life-styles and effectively implementing other public health interventions. All in coordination and collaboration with other stakeholders within the framework of strong leadership, sustained political will and commitment, good governance, and effective and efficient management; in its continuous pursuit to become a ministerial 'institution of excellence'.

About McCann Worldgroup
McCann Worldgroup, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), is a leading global marketing services company with 24,000 employees in more than 100 countries, comprising McCann (advertising), MRM//McCann (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), UM (media management), Weber Shandwick (public relations), FutureBrand (consulting/design), and PMK-BNC.

About McCann Health
McCann Health, winner of the Cannes Lions Healthcare Network of the Year Award for two years in a row and the Global Awards Healthcare Network of the Year for five consecutive years, is one of the world's most awarded global healthcare marketing networks specializing in a wide array of professional and consumer health and wellness practices. McCann Health (www.mccannhealth.com) consists of three strong marketing communications global networks: McCann Torre Lazur, McCann Healthcare (professional) and McCann HumanCare (consumer health & wellness). Specialty units include McCann Echo, McCann Global Health, McCann Pharmacy Initiative, Consulting at McCann Health, McCann Managed Markets and McCann Complete Medical. McCann Health is part of McCann Worldgroup and the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). The Immunity Charm™ is being developed in partnership with Global Health Consulting, Inc. www.globalhealthconsulting.com.

SOURCE McCann Health

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