Miffy launches major campaign for Sickle cell fund

Every year three hundred thousand children worldwide are born with sickle cell disease. Without treatment 75% of these children will not live past five years old. Starting today, a major media campaign of the Sickle Cell Fund and Miffy will be launched.

Miffy and the sickle cell fund

In an earlier post on my blog, I mentioned that Miffy has become an ambassador for the Sickle Cell Fund, to support the fight against sickle cell disease. Miffy, loved by children around the world, is going to use her fame to create more awareness for sickle cell disease. And so Miffy's goal is to raise 1 million euros for cure research.

Starting Today

A major media campaign by the Sickle Cell Fund and Miffy starts today. Miffy hopes that this attention will make more money available for research into the possibility of curing sickle cell disease.

There will be a television campaign

Starting today, the campaign video (a collaboration between Mercis bv, which holds the rights to Dick Bruna's work, and video agency Wolfstreet) can be seen on NPO, around informative programs. A longer version of the video will be used in an online campaign starting at the same time as the television campaign.

The campaign

But there is more to come: starting tomorrow, the Randstad streetscape will also be dominated by sickle cell disease and Miffy. The campaign image and accompanying slogan 'sickle cell disease too painful not to know' has been developed by Zouka Media and will be visible on more than seven hundred street posters and six hundred digital screens. The outdoor campaign will also appear in other regions later this year.

What is sickle cell disease?

Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disease in the world. In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells, which are normally round, are sickle-shaped or similar to a crescent moon. Hence the name sickle cell disease. Characteristics of the disease include severe anemia, unbearable pain attacks and an increased risk of serious infections.

Over time, organs in the body are damaged beyond repair.

Around thirty million people worldwide suffer from sickle cell disease. Children are added every year. Without treatment, 75% of these children will not live past five years of age.

Also in the Netherlands, there are thousands of patients in need of treatment. Through stem cell transplantation or gene therapy they can potentially be cured. For this, scientific research is of great importance.

Unfortunately, sickle cell disease is relatively unknown, so there are not enough resources available to conduct much-needed, groundbreaking research. The Sickle Cell Fund is committed to bringing attention to this disease and miffy wants to help them do so.

If you have seen the campaign on TV or in the streets, please let us know? I'm curious where you see it though.