By Andrea Hargraves 
SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – Youtube videos, Facebook texts, Instagram photos. Entities associated with oncology use social networks to reach people and educate them about cancer prevention and treatment. The idea is to bet on attractive and accessible language to spread good information about the disease.
“We need to be where our target audience is and run campaigns targeting each of those people,” says Catarina Rodríguez Pinto, Marketing Coordinator at Abrale (the Brazilian Association of Lymphomas and Leukemias).
She was one of the participants in the ninth edition of the All Together Against Cancer Congress, which began Tuesday morning (27), in São Paulo, and runs until Thursday (29).
The meeting brings together professionals from different fields of health and references in national and international oncology. The conference is organized by Todos Juntos Contra o Câncer (All Together Against Cancer Movement), an entity of more than 200 civil society organizations committed to cancer care.
According to Rodrigues, residents know little about leukemia, which includes diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma. That’s why, she says, Abrale invests in media content on networks.
“We seek to act with the help of celebrities, high-impact vehicles and public transportation advertisements. Our goal is to explain what these cancers are and what the symptoms are.”
She adds that diagnosing leukemia is often difficult because symptoms are inaccurate, such as fever and bruising all over the body. Hence the importance of disseminating information.
The use of social networks has achieved good results. According to Rodriguez, Abrale’s Youtube channel has more than 200 videos and collects 4.9 million views.
One record reached a million views by demystifying misinformation that soursop cured cancer.
“In our August Light Green campaign, to raise awareness about lymphoma, we were able to organically reach 245,000 people on social networks,” she says.
Another entity that is betting on outreach to raise awareness is INCA (National Cancer Institute). It’s important to pass on information in a simple way to get engagement, says Maris Mintsingen, the agency’s head of communications.
“Other than that, it gets boring with the mother and teacher tune,” she says, adding that the videos are effective.
“Audiovisual has always been an important tool. If you have a celebrity channel, that’s even better.”
She said that the participation of artists in prevention campaigns is important to highlight cancer. She says that when a celebrity announces that he or she has cancer, searches for information about the disease increase.
As an example, she cited the case of Lieutenant Colonel Thiago Levert, whose daughter was diagnosed last year with retinoblastoma – a cancer of the retina. This year, he and his wife decided to go public with the disease. “Situations like this help with vision and prevention,” he says.
Communication also helps break down preconceived notions about cancer patients. Ogilvy Brasil’s actress, Denise Caruso, says the advertising agency helped run a campaign in which the cartoon characters became bald.
“The goal was to spread the message that a child with cancer needs to be seen like any other child,” she says, adding that the campaign was broadcast on children’s channels and gained international repercussions.
“The secret to the success of these campaigns is that everyone got involved, from cancer foundations to the press.”