2015 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

Since the beginning of the program, the percentage of Qataris believing that cancer is always fatal has fallen by over 13%, (now down to 67%), according to the National Cancer Programme monthly tracking study. This is quite a significant drop in less than a year, and is the lowest this metric has ever reached in the country.

Creative Execution

We conducted a workshop for Ministry of Religious Affairs “Awqaf” mosque imams and gave them detailed presentations on the myths and stigma associated with cancer in Qatar and a medical doctor from Hamad Medical Corporation gave them the scientific background on the importance of early detection in the fight against cancer, as well as the efforts done by the National Cancer Programme as a whole, with its various campaigns. The imams then added the religious undertone to the campaign and started to seed our messages throughout the mosques of Doha during the Friday prayers, thus reaching a wide sector of the society via a unique channel that is highly credible among the local population.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The Problem 80% of Qataris believed that cancer is always fatal. This, among other myths, created a stigma around cancer between Qataris, making them not seek treatment. Conventional awareness campaigns were not delivering results. Cancer is responsible for 10% of the annual deaths in Qatar, and increasing rapidly. The Objective Break through the stigma to educate Qataris that early detection of cancer can save their life The Target Audience The majority of Qataris are religious Muslims, and most men go to Friday prayer every week The Insight Islam deems people responsible for taking care of their health and encourages them to seek treatment when getting ill. The Idea We collaborated with the Ministry of Religious Affairs “Awqaf” in using Friday Prayer speeches in all the country's mosques to educate about cancer truths, encourage early detection as well as seeding preventative health messages. This is a new media channel never utilized before in public awareness campaigns