On World Hepatitis Day, the Swiss Hepatitis Strategy launches the Life Science campaign “Test your hepatitis risk now”. Create certainty”. The campaign calls for a risk check and enables a free hepatitis test. Videos with whiteboard drawings illustrate the facts and background.

According to estimates, 80,000 people in Switzerland live with chronic hepatitis B or C. If diagnosed and treated in time, serious consequences of hepatitis such as cirrhosis or liver cancer can be avoided. The problem is that half of those affected are unaware of the infection.

With the campaign, which Life Sciene Communication was allowed to implement for the Swiss hepatitis strategy, this number of unreported cases is to be reduced. With “Test your hepatitis risk now. Create certainty,” she calls on the public to assess their own risk of infection with the help of an online tool (www.hepatitis-schweiz.ch). If a risk situation applies, the tool offers a voucher for a free hepatitis test to download. The free hepatitis tests are made possible thanks to cooperation with 16 partner laboratories and test centres throughout Switzerland. The 10vor10 programme covered the campaigns on Swiss television.

The campaign starts on World Hepatitis Day on 28 July and lasts until the end of September 2017. It will be advertised with banners and posters available in selected medical centres and practices as well as comprehensive social media measures. A central tool are videos that use whiteboard drawings, interviews with experts and testimonials to explain the background to infection risks and the consequences of untreated hepatitis.

Persons born between 1950 and 1985 are particularly susceptible to hepatitis B or C infection. The music cassette as a campaign subject is intended to address this core target group of the birth cohorts 1950 to 1985 very specifically. The cassette inscription “Greatest Risks” and the tape spaghetti call for a critical look back into times gone by and to identify possible risk situations for a hepatitis infection.