A Post-it turned into art to remember those the world often forgets

A small yellow piece of paper, the kind usually filled with everyday reminders, has become the canvas for a global cause. Nearly 40 cartoonists from Spain and Latin America have transformed a simple Post-it® into an original cartoon to draw attention to a reality that affects millions of people and yet rarely makes headlines: neglected diseases.

The illustrations are part of the “Note-olvides” campaign, led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, with the collaboration of Post-it® and the 3M Foundation. The project combines art, humor, and science with a clear goal: to remind that millions of people continue to suffer from preventable or treatable diseases that remain outside the focus of the public agenda.

Neglected diseases, a global health emergency

According to the World Health Organization, around 1.5 billion people worldwide need prevention or treatment for these diseases, also known as neglected tropical diseases. These include conditions such as Chagas disease, noma, and dengue, which mainly affect populations living in poverty with limited access to healthcare systems. 

This reality is compounded by malaria, one of the diseases most closely linked to poverty, causing more than 260 million cases worldwide each year, especially among children under five and pregnant women in Africa.

Despite their magnitude, these diseases have historically received very few resources for research, prevention, and treatment, perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty and illness. “It is inconceivable that we continue to ignore neglected diseases just because they affect the poorest populations,” says Quique Bassat, ISGlobal’s Director General and scientist. “It is not a lack of knowledge, it is a lack of will. We are facing a global health emergency that cannot wait: accepting otherwise legitimizes an inequality that costs lives.”

A tribute to Forges and his “No te olvides”

The initiative is inspired by a phrase that marked decades of Spanish graphic humor: the famous “No te olvides” used by the cartoonist Antonio Fraguas “Forges” in many of his drawings. The phrase is now revived as a call not to look the other way in the face of health inequalities.

“Graphic humor has a unique ability to condense complex ideas into a simple and direct image,” explains Jorge Martínez, creative director of the initiative. “We wanted to use that power to remind people that millions continue to suffer from preventable or treatable diseases simply because they live in the world’s poorest areas.”

Nearly 40 cartoonists from both sides of the Atlantic have joined the initiative by creating an original drawing on a Post-it®. Participants include well-known authors such as Peridis, Idígoras & Pachi, Julio Rey, Junco, Riki Blanco, Kemchs, Sendra, and Gretta con Ganas, along with other artists contributing their personal perspectives on neglected diseases. The result is a collection of images combining humor, irony, and social critique. 

The project also has the collaboration of the Fraguas family, the Instituto Quevedo de las Artes del Humor —which Forges himself helped found— and the Frente Viñetista collective.

A book, an exhibition, and a charity auction

The “Note-olvides” initiative includes several activities aimed at raising awareness of this global problem and fundraising to support research:

• The book Humor gráfico contra el olvido, published by Lunwerg (Grupo Planeta), with a foreword by writer Leonardo Padura and epilogue by El Gran Wyoming.
• An itinerant exhibition that will travel through various cities in Casa del Libro spaces and conclude at the Fujifilm House of Photography in Barcelona.
• A charity auction organized by Maza.art, scheduled for April 11, 2026, where collectors and the general public can purchase the originals and directly contribute to funding scientific research.
• A short documentary exploring the power of graphic humor as a tool for social transformation.

Additionally, donations can be made via Bizum (code 02948), so that small contributions add to the collective effort to fund research on neglected diseases.

The funds raised through these activities will be fully allocated to supporting the research carried out by ISGlobal through its Malaria and Neglected Parasitic Diseases Program.