Source: Adweek
Alongside Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health, McCann Health and McCann Worldgroup Partner scooped up the Cannes Lions Health Grand Prix for Good this year. Their campaign, “The Immunity Charm,” also won the most awards ever at Lions Health—four gold Lions, four silvers and one bronze.
But what exactly makes this beaded bracelet so special?
It comes down to the practice of immunization. While Western countries with established immunization records bicker over the dangers of vaccines, Afghanistan has one of the lowest vaccination records ever, and the world’s worst infant mortality rate, with 115 children lost out of 1,000 live births.
Afghanistan has been in an ongoing state of war for more than a decade, and poor and rural communities are among the worst affected. Everyday services are inconsistent and difficult to track. Given that most vaccines must be scheduled over the first few years of a child’s life, record-keeping is critical … but they often get lost, or mothers simply stop showing up at the hospital.
That’s where the Immunity Charm comes in. Instead of trying to get moms to hold onto paper hospital records—which are hard to understand and easy to lose—the charm leverages the existing tradition of talismanic bracelets meant to keep evil spirits away from children.
The Immunity Charm can serve this purpose while giving doctors at-a-glance information about a child’s vaccination record. Healthcare workers distribute the inexpensive bracelet—a literal symbol of protection against disease—to mothers when they arrive with newborns. As children get vaccinated for measles, polio, diphtheria and other diseases, more beads appear on the bracelet, each color representing a different vaccination.
The Immunity Charm is being extended for testing to regions both inside and outside Afghanistan. Its promise is a tribute to how science and medicine can work within the parameters of local culture to improve living conditions.
What’s more, it elevates immunization to tradition, creating a storytelling stickiness that can be more effective through generations than mere appointments on a calendar.
