More than 300 million people worldwide and 2 milion in Italy have a rare disease.

Pathologies are often without a name, without a diagnosis and without a cure.

Diseases that make those affected invisible, making them feel different and excluded. Our goal was to make these people and their stories finally visible to everyone.

The idea was to finally make visible those who feel invisible.

Before the eyes of all of Italy and its institutions. So, we decided to tell the stories of all these people through a monument: the Invisible Monument.

The strategy was to create a narrative concept on the occasion of the World Day of Rare Diseases that would recount Sanofi's commitment in this regard and bring to light a problem invisible to most. The goal was to raise awareness of the issue, starting from the point of view of those affected by a rare disease, specifically addressing the aspect of removing barriers to full social inclusion. Because 8 out of 10 patients feel alone and ignored.

On the World Day of Rare Diseases and for the following 2 days, in a square in the center of Rome, the city with the most monuments in the world and representing the Italian institutions, we installed the Invisible Monument. A marble Monument, but without a statue, that would tell how rare patients feel every day and the stories of all these people through an online experience.

The Monument attracted the attention of Romans and tourists visiting the center of Rome. Most people, attracted by a Monument they had never seen, stopped to see what it was all about. The most important result is surely the one that involved part of the Italian institutions. The former Minister of Health and some of the deputies and parliamentarians of the Republic, went in front of the Monument, speaking publicly about the need to unlock the law and the special funds for rare diseases. The Invisible Monument has accelerated the debate, unlocking the law.

Among other results, many rare patients finally felt visible, and some of them were able to tell their stories online.