World Stroke Day 2019 – Don’t Be The One Campaign | Eventex Winner

World Stroke Day supports WSO’s mission to deliver lives free from stroke by informing and educating the public about the disease, how to spot it, how to prevent it, and how to live the best possible life after stroke.

The Kenes Associations team managed for a second year the campaign on behalf of WSO, supporting the development of all strategies and the delivery of the annual campaigning guides, toolkits, and resources to inspire and support members to join in a globally coordinated, collective action on stroke awareness.

Today stroke is the leading cause of disability worldwide and the second leading cause of death, but evidence suggests that almost all strokes could be prevented with action on a few key risk factors. Despite the evidence and potential for stroke prevention over the past 10 years, the lifetime risk of stroke in adults over 25 has increased from 1 in 6 to 1 in 4. The 2019 World Stroke Day campaign focused on bringing global attention to this new statistic as evidence of the urgent need for action at the individual and policy levels in relation to stroke prevention. The public communication element of the campaign highlighted that one in four of us is at risk of stroke calling on everyone to take simple steps to prevent stroke with the hashtag #DontBeTheOne.

The goal of the 2019 campaign was to increase its reach compared to 2018 and prove that the world can come together to show the difference it can make when we face stroke as one. With a well thought out PR and social media campaign in the lead of 29th October, everything was put together to support an awareness campaign to reach beyond borders and social strata.

A WSO Regional Congress in Manila on Oct 6th was used as the launch of the countdown to World Stroke Day and a local sporting event was used as the ‘firing gun’ for a series of physical activity events in three continents, identified as the ‘World Stroke Day Relay’.

Online the campaign team developed a completely revamped website that provided enhanced access to tools that would help individuals identify and address their stroke risk factors. A video, risk assessment app, and information leaflets on each of the top 10 key risk factors were provided via the website and promoted on social media channels. Partnership with the World Heart Federation supported the development of materials on atrial fibrillation, a specific and underdiagnosed cardiac condition, and enabled WSO to raise awareness of stroke associated with World Heart Day and Atrial Fibrillation awareness month.