PNH ‘it’s hiding in plain sight’

PNH is a rare disease. It’s life-threatening and no two patients present in quite the same way. Early diagnosis is vital, but highly challenging. There are nine signs and symptoms to know about; they can appear in varying combinations, and patients will generally present with only two or three. Diagnosis depends on physicians knowing the symptoms and making the connection with PNH – and then referring the patient to a specialist treatment centre.

We created ‘The Syms’ – a family of nine unique characters, each one representing a PNH symptom. Then we asked the same illustrator to place our ‘Syms’ into a huge scene, alongside hundreds of people (like a Where’s Wally for haematology). This giant puzzle formed the centrepiece of our stand – under the banner of ‘IT’S HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT’. Delegates at BSH were introduced to the nine ‘Syms’ and invited to try and find them among the crowd. We supported the puzzle content with a short animation introducing the nine characters and making the case for early diagnosis in PNH.