Dec. 8, 2021 (New York) — Global health organization Vital Strategies announced today that three of its 2021 projects have been selected as finalists for PR Daily’s Content Marketing Awards, which recognize storytellers who create content that “stands out in the crowded content landscape.” The shortlisted projects center on Vital Strategies’ efforts to build strong public health systems during a tumultuous year.
“We envision a future where health is produced and protected for everyone, by everyone,” said Stephen Hamill, Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Communication at Vital Strategies. “Our work—whether to protect the rights of the global lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, or to implement harm reduction strategies that can save the lives of opioid users—reflects our unwavering commitment to a bolder, better and more equitable approach to health. Great storytelling that draws attention to the underrecognized drivers of poor health are part and parcel of our work, and COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical importance of communication that draws us together to meet our shared challenges. We are honored to be recognized by PR Daily for this important work.”
Vital Strategies’ work has been recognized in three categories:
- Best Annual Report for Vital Strategies’ digital 2020 Annual Report, which uses a timeline of the encroaching COVID-19 pandemic to highlight how Vital pivoted to harness its expertise and relationships with governments and partners around the world to address both COVID-19 and the deadly increased pressure across health systems and on health issues such as overdose, cancer prevention and food policy.
- Best Individual Blog Post for “Becoming Your True Identity: LGBTQI+ Advocacy in Peru Leads to Civil Registration Reform,” an interview with the implementing partners for the Accelerating Registration Equality for LGBTI People in Peru project. The project builds on strong relationships formed through Vital Strategies’ Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Program and aims to ensure that Peru’s LGBTI community has universal and straightforward access to obtaining accurate identity documents and registering vital events such as marriages.
- Best Social Justice Campaign for “Change. At Your Own Pace,” an advertising campaign with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Luceo Images to address the catastrophic overdose crisis. The campaign features real-life stories from people across Michigan, with inclusive, non-judgmental depictions to promote the benefit of harm reduction services in overdose prevention, including access to naloxone and syringe service programs.
“We’re proud that our communication work—grounded in science and touching the hearts and minds of our audiences—has been recognized by PR Daily,” said Christina Honeysett, Director, Public Relations at Vital Strategies. “We’re driven to amplify global voices and to help people acquire the knowledge and tools needed to make progress against cancer, heart disease, obesity, epidemic diseases, drug overdose, road crashes and other leading causes of illness, injury and death. It is an honor to be in the company of so many creative, innovative colleagues.”
The winners will be announced in January. See a complete list of nominees.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. We work with governments and civil society in 73 countries to design and implement evidence-based strategies that tackle their most pressing public health problems. Our goal is to see governments adopt promising interventions at scale as rapidly as possible. To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.com or Twitter @VitalStrat.