A Waikato health campaign has been recognised as one of the best in the world for raising awareness of and decreasing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.

Created by Hamilton-based ad agency PANmedia, for the Midlands Health Network and Waikato District Health Board's Sexual Health service, the ‘Itchy Burny Bits' campaign looks to increase awareness and normalise discussion around STIs among New Zealand's teenagers.

Avatars from the ‘Itchy Burny Bits' interactive website: Waikato DHB

PANmedia and the ‘Itchy Burny Bits' campaign was declared a finalist in international healthcare and wellness advertising awards, the Global Awards, which took place in Sydney, Australia, earlier this month.

One of 152 entrants, the agency was shortlisted in the ‘Advertising to the Consumer Consumer/Patient: Health Institutions and Services' category, then nominated as a finalist.

PANMedia is the only Southern Hemisphere agency to achieve this acknowledgement.

Agency director Graeme Blake says PAN is immensely proud of the achievement.

'Being shortlisted alone was a high honour,” says Graeme, 'considering our work beat out many international healthcare heavyweights, and goes to show how a great idea can travel beyond boundaries.”

Jury members were recruited from more than 20 countries, creating a world-wide collection of industry experts who announced the winners at ceremonies in New York and Sydney.

The campaign includes the interactive website itchyburnybits.com which has been designed as a confidential portal where a user's online character encounters situations which may affect their sexual health.