Enigma tackles hepatitis B stigma with new Burnet Institute campaign

Burnet Institute and Hepatitis B Voices Australia have partnered with agency Enigma to launch a national campaign aimed at dispelling misinformation about hepatitis B, titled "You Can't Get Hep B Here."

Misconceptions that hepatitis B can spread through casual contact — such as holding hands, hugging or sharing food — have led to stigma and social exclusion for people living with the virus in Australia's Chinese and Vietnamese communities, despite the virus only transmitting through blood and sexual fluids.

Burnet Institute says this stigma contributes to low diagnosis and treatment rates, despite effective treatment being available; three people die from hepatitis B in Australia each day.

The campaign was co-designed with community members and centres on a red adhesive tape bearing the campaign message in simplified Chinese, Vietnamese and English.

Aldo Ferretto, Enigma Head of Art & Creative Director, said: “Our design borrows from the conventional visual language of hazard warning, then deliberately turns it on its head, effectively ‘warning’ our audience that there’s nothing to worry about. The message is beautifully simply clear: the myths aren’t true; you can’t get Hep B here.”

Enigma hand-wrapped a series of everyday objects in the tape, photographed by Andy Lewis, with the resulting imagery used across the campaign's website, OOH and digital media.

An installation at Chatswood Mall featured a tape-wrapped dining table and chairs, inviting the public to interact with the display.

“This idea is all the more powerful when it enters the physical world,” Ferretto said.

“Making things with our hands is part of our creative culture at Enigma, and the public’s response to this work is testament to the value of crafting bespoke tangible experiences of this kind,” he added.

Associate Professor Jessica Howell, Senior Research Fellow and Head, Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer at the Burnet Institute, said the campaign responds to a critical gap in community knowledge.

"For more than 50 years, the Burnet Institute has been working to understand, prevent and ultimately eliminate hepatitis B. We know that fear is one of the biggest obstacles, and when hepatitis B feels threatening or embarrassing, people avoid information altogether.” 

Hepatitis B Voices Australia, the only community-first-led organisation in Australia completely governed by people living with and affected by hepatitis B, ensures that the people most affected by the condition are central to the national response. 

Lien Tran, a spokesperson for HBVA, said the community's involvement in shaping this campaign made a real difference.

She said: "For a long time, misinformation has caused so much unnecessary shame and isolation for people living with hepatitis B. This campaign speaks the truth in our languages, in our voices, and it reflects what our communities need to hear.”