Contact: christine.hancock@c3health.org, +44 (0)20 3096 7706

C3 Collaborating for Health, a small, tenacious charity, has been awarded an internationally renowned award for exceptional leadership in advancing health and welfare through the world, joining the ranks of His Highness the Aga Khan, Save the Children, Sir George Alleyne, Dame Cicely Saunders and Dr Jonas Salk for exceptional leadership in health. Sigma Theta Tau International recognised C3 as meeting the award’s criteria based upon  “its many contributions and achievements”, proving that the prevention of chronic disease will not take place only through the efforts of organisations such as the World Health Organization and the NHS, but more importantly through the work of grassroots organisations that can connect different segments of society to tackle non-communicable diseases together.

Each year, 70% of deaths globally are from just four major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – cardiovascular disease, cancers, type 2 diabetes and chronic lung disease. 17 million of those deaths are of the under-70s, many of working age with families to support. Despite this, NCDs are under-reported, under-acknowledged and under-funded. C3 Collaborating for Health’s vision is for a world where there are no premature or preventable deaths from chronic non-communicable diseases because people find it easier to live healthy lives.

This dream led C3’s founder and current director, Christine Hancock, to start C3 Collaborating for Health in 2009. A clinician, manager, and economist from the London School of Economics, Christine was a Ward Sister at London’s National Heart Hospital, CEO in the NHS, and then CEO of the Royal College of Nursing for 12 years. While president of the International Council of Nurses, Christine came to realise that healthcare was intervening too late in a person’s life. This delay meant that people were suffering and dying from illnesses that could have been prevented.  In a time when healthcare was largely equated with disease and sickness, Christine made a bold decision: to shift the focus to prevention and wellbeing by addressing NCDs and their causes before people fall sick or need care.

About C3 Collaborating for Health

C3 works with many organisations across sectors to build Collaboration and catalyse action in the global community, to promote 3 behaviour changes:

• Improving diet and avoiding harmful alcohol use
• Stopping smoking
• Increasing physical activity

Bringing together ‘unusual suspects’ from a global network of over 2,700 professionals in 70+ countries to encourage behaviour change for NCD prevention is at the core of C3’s work which focus on:

• local communities;
• businesses;
• health professionals, particularly nurses;
• and workplace health;

Together, we can make it easier to live healthy lives. Learn more about C3 Collaborating for Health at www.c3health.org.

About the Archon Award

‘One of the most distinguished awards that STTI confers is the Archon Award. The name “Archon” is derived from the Greek word meaning “first to lead”. The awards are bestowed by STTI’s board of directors to individuals and organisations who have shown exceptional leadership in advancing the health and welfare of people throughout the world,’ explained STTI President Cathy Catrambone, PhD, RN, FAAN at the award ceremony.