Inspiring Action on Non-Communicable Diseases with Vital Strategies

Vital Strategies is a leading global public health organization committed to reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). We partnered with their team to create an interactive digital story that communicates the progress and challenges of cancer prevention in Brazil. The result is a compelling narrative that connects data, interventions, and outcomes, helping Vital Strategies demonstrate their impact and laying the groundwork for future storytelling across the NCD ecosystem.

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Services Provided

• Data Analysis and Visualization

• Ui/Ux Design

• Web Development

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The Challenge

Vital Strategies is a global leader in tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), working with governments and civil society to improve health outcomes for millions of people. While their program teams excel at communicating impact within individual initiatives, weaving together a holistic story of their role in the NCD ecosystem is more challenging.

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Cancer prevention in Brazil is one of those complex stories: it involves multiple stakeholders, spans years of coordinated interventions, and requires translating highly technical data into messages that resonate with funders, policymakers, and the public. Our task was to create a product that could both communicate impact clearly and inspire action across audiences.

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Our Strategy

To bring this vision to life, we worked closely with both Vital Strategies’ Brazil team and the broader organization, ensuring local perspectives were embedded within the wider program context. The Brazil team connected us with local partners and researchers, grounding the work in robust, place-based insights. 

Working together with these groups, we designed an interactive digital story that highlights the fight against cancer in Brazil. The product combines narrative storytelling with data-driven insights to show:

• The increasing global NCD burden and the particular challenges of cancer in Brazil.
• The milestones and interventions across the country, from tobacco control to screening and early detection, that have shaped progress.
• The potential future impacts of different prevention and treatment strategies.

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To make complex science more accessible, we incorporated interactive visual elements, such as:

• A risk factors body map that connects individual behaviors to health outcomes.
• Data visualizations that illustrate both progress made and the urgency of future action.
• A narrative structure that helps situate Vital’s contributions within the broader coalition of actors addressing cancer.

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‍The Results

This work provides Vital Strategies with a powerful new way to communicate its impact - translating complex data and interventions into a clear, inspiring narrative. The interactive product’s modular design means that elements like visualizations and risk factor maps can be reused in future campaigns and advocacy efforts. Just as importantly, the project establishes a model for how Vital Strategies can tell broader stories across the NCD ecosystem, laying the groundwork for future digital storytelling that mobilizes resources and strengthens global partnerships.

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