Have you noticed something different? Yes, Jhpiego has
a new look — and not just the slimmed-down letters in
its name. The Johns Hopkins-affiliated international health
organization has recently rolled out a campaign to re-brand
itself in order to better reflect the 35-year-old
organization's refocused mission.
Jhpiego
(pronounced "ja-pie-go") was established in 1973 to improve
health care access for
women and their families. The name originally stood for
Johns Hopkins Program for International
Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (JHPIEGO). This
year, the organization lowercased its name
to lose the connection to the original acronym, viewed as
obsolete, and have it officially become the
word by which it has become known worldwide.
From its origins as a provider of technical expertise
in reproductive, maternal and child health,
Jhpiego now also assists in the prevention and treatment of
HIV/AIDS, malaria and cervical cancer,
reflecting the increasing interconnectedness of global
health.
In addition to the subtle name change, Jhpiego has
adopted a new mission and vision statement,
redesigned its Web site and created a new logo, which uses
the phrase "innovating to save lives."
The re-branding effort came as a result of the
organization's new strategic plan, completed last
year. Leslie Mancuso, president and CEO of Jhpiego, said
that the organization decided to roll out the
changes this year to coincide with its 35th anniversary.
"We wanted to highlight the message of innovating to
save lives, a phrase that came out of our
strategic planning discussions," said Mancuso, who joined
Jhpiego in 2002. "People know us worldwide
by the way we innovate. We wanted our new brand to show our
commitment to developing the technical
expertise that can be put into practice."
The organization, which reports to the Office of the
Provost, focuses on training and support
for health care providers working in limited-resource
settings throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle
East, Latin America and the Caribbean. Jhpiego's
headquarters in Baltimore coordinates activities with
the organization's offices and programs in more than 50
countries. It employs more than 450 people
worldwide.
As reflected in its new vision statement, Jhpiego
assists front-line health workers by designing
and implementing effective, low-cost, hands-on solutions to
strengthen the delivery of health care
services for women and their families. It partners with
organizations from the community to the
national level, building sustainable, local capacity
through advocacy, policy development, and quality and
performance improvement approaches.
By putting evidence-based health innovations into
everyday practice, Jhpiego works to break
down barriers to high-quality health care for the world's
most vulnerable populations. For example,
Jhpiego serves as a technical resource for state-of-the-art
training materials and for HIV/AIDS
care and treatment guidelines, protocols and standards.
Currently, the organization has staff in 25
countries throughout Africa and the Caribbean who work on
innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS
treatment, counseling, testing and prevention.
The new logo and Web site, developed by Jhpiego staff,
utilize the colors blue and green, meant
to signify life, strength and growth. To the left of the
name rests a simple circular symbol, a green
dot wrapped by matching blue elements.
Mancuso said that the new symbol, which signifies
knowledge and life, is open to interpretation.
"Some people see it as two hands clasped around a
child's head, or two arms around the globe,"
she said. "Others see it as a seed of knowledge."
Over the next few months, the organization will add
new navigation components and upgrades to
the Web site and will continue to incorporate the new
branding into all its communication, marketing
and education efforts.
"We anticipate it will take a full year to completely
roll out," Mancuso said. "We want to phase
this in. We need to do this in a coordinated and
cost-effective way."
To learn more about the organization and view the
changes, go to
www.jhpiego.org.
GO TO