Singapore – At a global scale, viral hepatitis has become a global healthcare nightmare: the second leading infectious cause of death globally, infecting more than 320 million, and taking the lives of 1.3 million annually. The WHO has sounded the alarm on the crisis, reporting that deaths continue to rise despite testing and treatment being made more accessible.
While hepatitis testing globally is already a thing, recent data also shows that 9 in 10 of some global markets believe that people “reap what they sow” and deserve hepatitis as a result of their high-risk behaviours such as promiscuity and drug use. These societal attitudes and taboos not only discourage individuals from seeking testing but also perpetuate a harmful culture of silence and blame surrounding the disease.
Given this status quo on hepatitis testing, global healthcare company Roche Diagnostics has launched a regional campaign titled ‘Everyone Deserves to Get Tested’ which aims to change this narrative. The campaign, done alongside Edelman, also aims to encourage people to not let silence come in the way of getting screened–and that the reality is anybody can get hepatitis, but nobody deserves it.
To better understand the company’s approach to this campaign, we recently spoke with Amy Ho, head of disease areas at Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific to better understand the company’s driving force for this campaign, and why advocacy matters for brands like them to solve the world’s most pressing health issues.
Dispelling society stereotypes on hepatitis
For Amy, she notes that the uncomfortable truth about hepatitis is that, in many societies, it is stigmatised due to its perceived causes – high-risk behaviours such as promiscuity and drug use. This has its roots in historical healthcare campaigns highlighting these “unhelpful” stereotypes.
“These stereotypes, compounded by societal pressure to be a model citizen, have resulted in many remaining silent about hepatitis, contributing to 4.5 million preventable deaths each year,” she explained.
Moreover, she also notes that societal attitudes and taboos not only discourage individuals from seeking testing, but also perpetuate a harmful culture of silence and blame surrounding the disease.
“Many people are reluctant to get screened for the fear of being labeled as someone ‘who deserves it’. Roche Diagnostic’s ‘Everyone Deserves to Get Tested’ campaign aims to change this narrative. The reality is anybody can get hepatitis, but nobody deserves it. We believe everyone deserves to get tested.
It is also worth noting that many of hepatitis cases in the world are concentrated in Asia-Pacific, with about 94.6 million infected individual. Moreover, viral hepatitis, particularly Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV), remains the primary cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and APAC contributes 80% of all HCC cases globally.
Despite all of this, testing remains a grey area for many in APAC, with a study conduced by Roche alongside GWI notes that over 50% of the population have a basic awareness of hepatitis, but over 30% have not tested, not planning on booking a test and/or unsure. Moreover over 1 in 2 presume nothing is wrong and do not undergo testing, and that 58% of respondents believe people with a history of IV drug use, high-risk sexual behaviours and needle usage from tattoos – deserve hepatitis.
Hence, Amy notes that it is thus of critical importance to identify, diagnose and treat patients at the early stage possible to prevent disease progression.
“The need for action is more urgent than ever and diagnosing viral hepatitis is a critical first step in limiting the harmful impact of the disease. Increased testing can significantly bring the world closer to achieving the World Health Organisation’s Hepatitis Elimination goal by 2030,” she says.
Amy added, “By shining a light on the disease, we can move closer to achieving the 2030 hepatitis elimination goals and achieve better patient outcomes by eliminating social and systemic barriers to care, tackling key unmet needs along the liver patient journey, and developing integrated solutions and partnerships with key stakeholders.”
“Advocacy is movement-driven”
One of the things that Amy highlighted is that advocacy is movement-driven, meaning making waves in perception, giving voice to issues that need speaking about, and creating actionable change.
“Likewise, ‘Everyone Deserves to Get Tested’ pushes beyond awareness with its call to action framed within the campaign title itself,” she says.
She added, “With diseases such as Hepatitis, the barriers are manifold. This campaign goes far beyond awareness, breaking deep-seated stigmas, shifting perception and instigating action to get tested.”
For this specific campaign, Amy says that they launched it regionally, and are also following up with targeted versions of the campaign for local rollout, with a specific focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that have a higher incidence rate and disease burden of hepatitis.
“With these in-market rollouts, we will partner with local organisations to ensure that the campaign reaches its maximum effectiveness in terms of reach, awareness and messaging that converts into longer-term action, with these local partners ensuring that action can take shape and root in each specific local landscape,” she added.
What’s next for Roche’s advocacy-driven campaigns
The global healthcare company is no stranger to these types of campaigns, evident in their ongoing ‘#FreedomtoBe; campaign for women’s health. In this initiative, Roche aimed to inspire and empower women to take care of their health with tangible steps such as getting checked related to cervical cancer.
Amy notes that any of their campaigns, including this one, is centred on awareness and advocacy–but it is just one part of our multi-sectoral strategy to increase healthcare access to patients. Moreover, this campaign is also backed by collaborative efforts from various stakeholders, including policy stakeholders, patient advocacy groups, clinicians, and laboratories to shape practices.
“Diagnostics form the foundation of healthcare; you can’t know how to treat an illness until and unless you know what it is. And it’s not just about identifying a disease, it is also about preventing it from worsening or, more importantly, detecting it before it manifests. Having efficient and effective diagnostics not only supports patients and governments in saving lives but also reduces healthcare expenditure by intervening at crucial junctures, preventing global healthcare crises and stopping millions of preventable deaths right in their tracks,” she explains.
She also highlights that given how the healthcare ecosystem is a complex web, they need to ensure that life-changing innovation reaches those who need it, and that they need a multi-faceted approach to ensure that those in need are impacted directly by their advocacies.
“This campaign is part of Roche Diagnostic’s long-term commitment to drive meaningful change in various ways, from raising awareness to forming partnerships, and channelling action. In that same vein, many of our campaigns wear multiple hats, from being awareness and advocacy-centric to action-oriented,” she concluded.