FOPH raises awareness of organ donation with new campaign
«Talk about organ donation. For the sake of your loved ones.» That is the message of the new awareness campaign launched by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in collaboration with Swisstransplant on February 25, 2019. The goal is to encourage the public to make a decision about organ donation and to share that decision with their loved ones, in order to ease their burden and provide clarity. Contexta and Stories are behind the production.
According to surveys, the Swiss population is basically positive about organ donation. The focus of the organ donation campaign is therefore not on persuasion. Rather, the campaign is all about dialogue and relieving the burden on relatives.
Anyone and everyone can suddenly be confronted with the question of whether or not the organs of a deceased relative should be released for removal. Although 80 percent of the population is in favor of organ donation, only very few communicate their will. For the relatives, this can lead to a very difficult situation: If the will to donate organs in the event of death is not known, they must decide in the deceased person's best interest. So anyone who makes their will for organ donation known at an early stage relieves their family immensely - and decides for themselves what will happen to their body after their death. The campaign starts on February 25, 2019 and will run for three years until 2021 with an annual budget of 1.17 million Swiss francs. In addition to numerous information materials, the population will also have access to an information film on expressing one's will, an information brochure with an integrated organ donation card, and numerous other materials. Further information is available at Life-is-sharing.ch to find.
At the end of 2018, a new high of 18.6 donors per million population was reached. With the extension of the "More Organs for Transplantation" action plan, this number is to be increased to 22 donors per million population by 2021.
Responsible at the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH: Adrian Kammer (Head of Health Information and Campaigns Section), Cinzia Pastore Ferrari (Co-Project Manager Campaigns), Susanne Nyfeler (Co-Ltg. Transplantation and Reproductive Medicine Section and Co-Ltg. Organ Donation Campaign), Christa Käser (Co-Project Manager). Responsible agency: Contexta. Production: Stories; Director: Flurin Giger, DoP: Silvan Giger, Executive Producer: Yves Bollag, Producer: Angelique Ingold, Postproduction Producer: Billy Bains, Editing: Flurin Giger/Silvan Giger & Noëmi Preiswerk, Color Grading: Adriel Pfister, Voice Recording: UKO, Music & Sound Design: Fabian Sturzenegger, Sound Mix: Michael Schwarz (Jingle Jungle) Media: Mediascheider Bern.
For the implementation, the project team relied on the film production Stories and its two young talents Giger brothers. Flurin, 23 (script and direction), and Silvan Giger, 21 (camera), from Seewis in Graubünden achieved in 2016 with their first short film "Ruah" what no one else in Switzerland managed: they were invited to the Venice International Film Festival. In 2018, their second short film "Schächer" was screened, even at the "Semaine de la Critique" in Cannes. Despite their young age, the power duo has already had greats like Johnny Depp, Judi Dench and John C. Reilly in front of the lens.
It is no coincidence that the decision was made in favor of these two exceptional talents. Because getting people to deal with death and organ donation requires a sure instinct. In their short film "Schächer" about the inevitability of death, the Giger brothers showed that they have plenty of it. "We wanted to engage the viewer on the topic of organ donation without being pushy. Through a funny, whimsical, yet serious fictional story that is meant to get people talking," says Flurin.
The result is a TV and social video spot, a YouTube film and a print subject. The campaign will run for three years.
"We are convinced that with this new TV spot and the continuation of the campaign, we can encourage people in this country to think about the issue of organ donation and motivate them to make their will known to their loved ones," says Adrian Kammer, head of the FOPH's Health Information and Campaigns Section. The organ donation campaign is a key component of the More Organs for Transplants action plan launched by the Federal Council in March 2013.
