What's your logo's global health story?

A white symbol against a blue background made many appearances last week in New York during the launch of the World Health Organization’s global campaign around noncommunicable diseases. The symbol isn’t a tree branch or an artery, though it bears resemblance. It’s a half ribbon; the four strokes that create it symbolize the four diseases that account for 82 percent of NCD deaths worldwide — cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. The symbol, created by WHO in collaboration with other actors working in the NCD space, borrows from the iconic red ribbon, which was created in 1991 by a group of artists to show support for those suffering from HIV and AIDS. The red ribbon eventually became instrumental in launching a movement to fight the disease; WHO hopes the NCD symbol will inspire the same. The symbol evokes the idea of movement, “like legs walking,” said Paul Garwood, communications officer for NCDs at WHO in Geneva. It comes in four different shades: red for cardiovascular disease, orange for cancer, and two varying shades of blue for diabetes and chronic respiratory disease. The wording on the right also changes accordingly, depending on who uses it. If your organization’s focus is cancer, for example, the wording changes from Getting to 2018 — which is the year the U.N. General Assembly is set to conduct a review of the global progress in the fight against NCDs — to “together let’s #beatcancer.” The goal is for all those working in the NCD space to have one unifying symbol they can all rally behind, which has been a challenge given the different diseases and risk factors associated with NCDs. This NCD symbol, however, is just one of the many symbols and logos that proliferate in the global health space — many, the meaning of which remains a mystery. Curious, Devex asked about the meanings behind the logos and symbols that different international health organizations, partnerships and alliances are using. Here’s what we found out: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation In 1988, following the death of her daughter Ariel, Elizabeth Glaser co-founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation with two of her close friends, Susie Zeegen and Susan DeLaurentis. Its mission: raise money for pediatric HIV and AIDS research, which was unexplored territory at the time. The world was in its early years of discovering HIV and AIDS, and most pharmaceutical companies and health organizations were focused on developing treatment for adults suffering from the disease. Glaser’s actions were driven by both tragedy and hope. She had just lost her daughter, Ariel Glaser, to AIDS. She didn’t want to lose her second child, Jake, to whom she unknowingly passed the disease during conception. Glaser contracted HIV during a blood transfusion in 1981, but would only learn of it five years later. The foundation was renamed Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation following Glaser’s death in 1994. The foundation’s logo meanwhile hails from her daughter’s surviving painting. Before she died in 1988, Ariel painted a garden featuring a sun and hearts. The painting, according to a short description on the foundation’s website, depicts how Ariel “envisioned the world.” Management Sciences for Health The staff of Aesculapius — the ancient Greek’s demigod of medicine — is a famous symbol in the world of medicine and global health. It can be found in the badges and logos of medical associations and organizations around the globe, and the World Health Organization carries it in its own flag. It isn’t surprising then that Management Sciences for Health, whose main work is centered on bringing leadership and governance capacity among partners — country, organizations and communities — to ensure the proper and sustainable delivery of health services, has adopted the same symbol in its logo, with a twist. The advisory organization adopted the intertwined shapes, minus the head of the snake and the tail. Seen from another angle, this closely represents two shoulders working side by side, which Barbara Ayotte, senior director of strategic communications at MSH, said represented the organization’s close working relationship and collaboration with partners. The circle surrounding it, meanwhile, is representative of the Earth, and is meant to showcase the organization’s global presence. The text, in lowercase, is meant to imply humility, while the thick letters, which Ayotte described as “sturdy,” are meant to suggest organizational capability and expertise. MSH upgraded their logo in 2009, but they retained the dark green color as a means to retain familiarity with the MSH brand. The organization sees the addition of the color sienna as adding vitality to the organization’s work, and suggests staff members’ passion and dedication, Ayotte said. Marie Stopes International Along Whitfield Street near Fitzroy Square Garden is a blue door rich in history. It symbolizes the first family planning clinic in the United Kingdom, established during a time when birth control was unpopular. The clinic was set up by Marie Stopes, a scientist who is best known for her pioneering work on family planning and women’s rights. The clinic, originally located in Holloway, London, before it moved to its present location in 1925, offered married women birth control knowledge and advice for free. Today, that same blue door is carried by Marie Stopes International in its organizational logo. The blue door is a reminder of its roots, while depicting it as open suggests the nonprofit’s hospitality and commitment to accessibility to its clients. Over the years, the logo has become a huge part of the organization’s branding. In countries where they are present, some people refer to them as the “open door people” or the “blue door people,’’ according to Chris Duncan, global director of communications. In their clinics across the world, the entrance is often painted with the same symbol, although last year the nonprofit updated its design for better visibility and easier reproduction by partners. Today, the logo no longer has fences on the side, its color is now a bolder shade of blue, and it carries a shorter but stronger messaging — “children by choice, not chance” — which is translated to the local language in countries where the nonprofit operates. Medecins Sans Frontieres They are one of the most outspoken humanitarian charities working in the global health space. They work in some of the most dangerous places around the world. They are one of the few charities that have won a Nobel Peace Prize. And their logo is one of the most widely known and recognized today. But the logo, which has a figure in the middle that the Medecins Sans Frontieres deems could represent both their patient and an MSF volunteer, and a shade of red in the background that represents blood, didn’t quite look that way during the charity’s early years. The original MSF logo looked like a cross, with the horizontal bar constituting the letters MSF. Its color is associated with Bordeaux wine. The cross was meant to symbolize the charity’s medical work and be used as a protection symbol. However, the Geneva conventions had strict protocols in using the cross symbol, mainly to protect the cross’ integrity, particularly during wartime. So at the request of the International Committee of the Red Cross, MSF changed its logo to a white cross against a background in red shading. This, however, was short lived, as it came too close in resembling the Swiss flag. MSF tried altering their logo after by slightly tilting the cross and covering half of it in red. But ICRC and the Swiss government still didn’t approve. The current logo was adopted in 1994, following two years of proposal rejections and disagreements from other sections of MSF, which has become a global movement. mothers2mothers mothers2mothers is a global nonprofit based in Cape Town, South Africa, working to break the cycle of pediatrics AIDS transmission by training and employing mothers living with HIV to become front-line health care workers in understaffed health centers throughout Africa. The idea is that these mothers, with whom the nonprofit refers to as “mentor mothers,” have first-hand experience of what it’s like living with HIV, and therefore makes it easy for them to develop relationships with other mothers seeking support and knowledge on how to prevent the virus from infecting their children. This relationship is visually represented in the nonprofit’s logo. The three interlocking oval shapes represent the “mentor mother,” the expectant mothers they are helping, and the child inside the womb. They are all inside a circle, which symbolizes the cycle of life. The colors, meanwhile, are meant to evoke vibrancy, passion and trust, which Emma France, European director of mothers2mothers, said represents the organization’s values. mothers2mothers has adopted a special logo this year to celebrate the organization’s 15th anniversary. In it, the color yellow depicts the organization’s hope for a bright future for children, red signifies the organization’s work in the HIV space as well as the rising urgency in addressing HIV in adolescents, and teal conveys trust between the organization and the mothers it is helping. NCD Alliance The NCD Alliance was founded in 2009 by three organizations: the International Diabetes Foundation, the World Health Federation and the Union for International Cancer Control. The following year, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease joined in. The alliance’s main objective has been to mobilize political action for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. Thus the adoption of the new 2030 development agenda, which contains a strong health element across the goals — including some specific targets on NCDs — was celebrated as a landmark moment by the alliance composed of 2,000 organizations located in more than 170 countries, said Jimena Márquez Donaher, communications manager of the NCD Alliance. In the context of the sustainable development goals, the Alliance launched a new five-year strategic plan covering 2016-2020, and in line with this, refreshed its visual identity, including its logo and website. Not a lot has changed in terms of what the logo aims to convey. The colorful swirls continue to represent the diversity of its members. The tagline “putting noncommunicable diseases on the global agenda,” however, has been taken out in the updated design, reflecting the Alliance’s evolving mission and priorities. The other changes are more cosmetic in nature, such as making the colors more solid to increase the Alliance’s visibility and its logo’s usability. The typeface was also changed in alignment with its “visual identity refreshment,” Márquez Donaher said. Sightsavers From afar, it looks like two plain rings overlapping each other. But look closely and you’ll find an eye in the middle, which gets to the heart of Sightsavers’ mission: eliminating avoidable blindness and advocating equal opportunity for people with disabilities — including those living with blindness and low vision in developing countries. The overlapping rings represent partnerships, as the organization delivers on its programs by working jointly with a range of other groups. And the choice of colors, particularly the black “Sightsavers” text against a white background, meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines’ triple-A conformance level. The Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium sets guidelines on how to make web content accessible to all, particularly for people with disabilities. People with low vision or who are colorblind often find difficulty in identifying and reading text, especially when there is not enough color contrast between the item and the background, for example, a light green text against a darker green background. Devex Professional Membership means access to the latest buzz, innovations, and lifestyle tips for development, health, sustainability and humanitarian professionals like you. Our mission is to do more good for more people. If you think the right information can make a difference, we invite you to join us by making a small investment in Professional Membership.