Why is this work relevant for Branded Content & Entertainment?

"Access to Healthcare" is a documentary series about five people facing the financial and emotional burden of living with cancer, diabetes and hypertension in Meru County, Kenya. The series shares the story behind Takeda’s Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access which saves lives by removing the barriers that stop people from accessing care for NCDs—the leading cause of death worldwide. Although the documentary series is based on the Blueprint, Takeda or other partners are never mentioned. The series is created with the primary purpose of engaging the audience through emotional storytelling to provoke a response and initiate action.

Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Healthcare/RX/Pharma communications in your country/region including:

N/A

Describe the target audience and why your work is relevant to them.

The series aims to engage Governments and NGO’s, Civil Society and Multilateral organisations across Sub-Saharan Africa and all countries with a weak healthcare system, in order to increase funding and build a consortium of expert partners who own and drive implementation adapted to address local healthcare needs.

Background

Globally, almost half the world’s population has little or no access to healthcare. So in 2019, Takeda initiated and funded the 'Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access,' which aims to remove the barriers that stop people from accessing care for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)—the leading cause of death worldwide (71%) killing 41M people each year. The brief was to explain the Blueprint to a wider audience in an effort to increase funding and expand the Blueprint across Sub-Saharan Africa and all countries that have a weak public healthcare system. Traditionally, Takeda – like most businesses – had taken a very flat and corporate approach to telling these stories but were looking for a more creative approach in order to cut through and position themselves as leaders in the category.

Describe the creative idea

There is no word for 'cancer' in the African language; the stigma surrounding cancer and other NCDs is worse than HIV; and millions of people end up in debt or poverty due to having little or no access to healthcare. So to raise awareness, change perceptions and overcome social stigma, we created a documentary series about 5 patients living with NCDs in Meru County, Kenya and shared the impact the Blueprint has had on their lives. Through each of their stories, we proved that cancer is not a death sentence, that NCDs can be prevented by early detection, treated and even cured with proper care and treatment, and that the Blueprint is saving lives.

Describe the strategy

The Blueprint aims to strengthen the healthcare system at every stage of the patient journey so we strategically aligned each patient to each stage, helping simplify the Blueprint and show its impact from Ep1: ”It Takes A Village” shows how the Blueprint addresses Awareness & Prevention through the story of a Community Healthcare Volunteer. Ep 2: "Close To Home” demonstrates the importance of screening and free screening centres are helping raise awareness in the community. Ep 3: "No Words” shares the story of Joseph who thought his cancer diagnosis was an immediate death sentence. Ep 4: "Stronger Together" tells the story of Stella who has now been able to access treatment for recurrent cervical cancer. Ep 5: "Looking Forward” shows the importance of Palliative care for wellbeing. The result was a highly engaging 5-part documentary series that shares the emotional stories of five individuals whilst showing positive impact.

Describe the execution

Throughout the series we visited remote communities across Kenya to uncover the biggest barriers faced by underdeveloped countries today to access care for non-communicable disease like cancer, diabetes and hypertension. Every episode begins with a message about the problem of rising NCDs globally and ends with a statistic showcasing a positive impact as a result of the framework - driving empathy and encouraging more NGOs to get involved. The series demonstrates the importance of partnerships through interactions between the patient and NGOs on the ground which is seamlessly woven into the patient story as they overcome barriers to access healthcare. The documentary series launch coincided with the AtM Two-Year Progress Report and is now being promoted to relevant NGO's via a targeted social and publication partnership strategy.

Describe the outcome

Since releasing the series, the Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access has achieved its goal of expanding beyond Meru, Kenya into Rwanda through Government and NGO partnerships. But the biggest measure of success is that the Blueprint is saving lives. While this cannot be attributed directly to the video series alone, it is a testament to the fantastic work Takeda are doing with the Blueprint in achieving UHC (Universal Health Coverage) 2030. In the initial 21 months of the Blueprint there were: > 46,000 screenings for cancer, diabetes, and hypertension have been provided of which: >1,000 patients received cancer treatment and support >500 patients referred for treatment of diabetes and hypertension ~800 Community Health Volunteers and Trainers qualified to raise awareness of cancer and hypertension symptoms, provide screenings, and conduct community campaigns on health promotion.