Blood Borne Viruses and Me – Destigmatising BBVs

Project background

We worked with Cardiff University and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board to create a public-facing and a clinician-focused version of this engaging animation, funded by Gilead, aiming to encourage more people in Wales to get tested for HIV, HCV and HBV.

Both the animation’s aims and the aims of the Blood Borne Viruses and Me project as a whole, is to increase public knowledge of BBVs and assess the attitudes of people in semi-rural communities across Wales, as well as to destigmatise BBVs and, most importantly, encourage people to take autonomy of their sexual health and go and get tested.

Creating the animation

When creating an animation that is going to be viewed by large groups of people, it’s really important to consider who your target audience is. In the case of the public-facing version of this animation, the target audience is people in their 20s–40s who wouldn’t usually see themselves as part of an ‘at-risk’ group, encouraging them to take up the offer of a free BBV test.

Artist Sam worked to build a selection of diverse characters that felt representative of the target audience and of the Welsh population, representing individuals of different ages, ethnicities and sexual orientations throughout the film.

One animation, two versions

The clinician-focused version of the animation utilised much of the same on-screen visuals as the public-facing version – Dann, our lead scriptwriter, worked with the team to adapt the language to increase the film’s relevancy to a clinical audience, encouraging them to feel supported in offering BBV tests both in face-to-face appointments and at home kits.

Welsh- and English-language versions

To further the reach of the film amongst the target audiences, both were also translated into the Welsh language, including all on-screen text, the subtitles and the voiceovers.

Radio Wales DJ Katie Owen and Dr David ‘Dai’ Samuel provided the voiceovers. They deliver an authentically Welsh narration and bring the script to life, whilst also capturing the audience’s attention and lending a relatable, comforting sound to complement the on-screen visuals.