Insights & Trends

We’ve all heard the pros and cons of the industry’s outlook in Europe, the US and some Asian nations, but information from South America and Southeast Asia can be scarce.  However, new data suggests that opportunity may lie in two countries, one that has been mostly overlooked and one at the forefront of global headlines.

The new data provide insight into the growing global market for pharma. EyeForPharma, an industry hub led by senior level executives, highlighted these two markets, as well as the markets of several countries across the globe.

[Read more…] about Emerging Pharma Worldwide

Last week we were honoured at the peak pharmaceutical industry ‘PRIME Awards’ with a highly-coveted Public Relations accolade.

 

Together with our client, bioCSL, we won the best ‘PR Campaign’ award for our highly innovative and integrated travel vaccines communications campaign entitled ‘Urging globetrotters, health professionals and travel consultants to prioritise travel health.’ [Read more…] about GLOBALHealthPR Partner VIVA! Communications Clinches Best PR Campaign at Premier Pharmaceutical Industry Event

In the world of international business, good manners and protocol are often essential to achieving success. Juan Luis Recio, Executive Director of GLOBALHealthPR partner in Spain, Berbés Asociados, elaborates.

“Not to lose oneself to passion is the indication of the highest spirit, and if passion may affect what is personal, it should never influence work. This is the intelligent way to avoid disappointment and achieve a reputation quickly and easily.”

This phrase is just one piece of advice in “The Art of Worldly Wisdom,” a collection of maxims, each with a commentary, written by Baltasar Gracián, a Jesuit from Aragon in Spain. While Gracián was born in 1601, over 400 years ago, his thinking remains valid and his advice useful if we adapt his teachings to present-day life. [Read more…] about “Good Things, When Short, Are Twice As Good”

Today’s post comes to us from Laura Hernandez of GLOBALHealthPR partner in Mexico, PR Partners.

Mexico faces a major social problem due to the high prevalence of teenage pregnancy. According to the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT), 51.9% of sexually active females aged 12 to 19 have been pregnant.

[Read more…] about Mexico Faces a Major Health Challenge: Teenage Pregnancy

Paradigma, our GLOBALHealthPR partner in Argentina, presents insights from a new study on sexual and reproductive health.

A recent study in Argentina carried out by Fundación Huésped and UNICEF proved television’s great potential to influence the public’s opinion on sexual and reproductive health.  Fundación Huésped and UNICEF teamed up with the script authors, producers and actors of popular primetime comedy show “Solamente Vos” to co-create an episode in which one of the characters, an adolescent girl, has sexual intercourse for the first time. The idea was to emphasize the use of the condom and the role of women in the suggestion of its use and provision. What was most interesting in this study is that they obtained specific information about the impact of the show, as they evaluated sexual and reproductive health attitudes of the viewers before and after the episode’s broadcast through a survey of 700 TV viewers. [Read more…] about Sexual Initiation and Women’s Empowerment: How TV Impacts Social Perception and Behavior

Zambia efficiently tracks medical histories and public health. “Why not bring it to the US?” asks Brittany Allgood of Spectrum, GlobalHealthPR partner in the United States.

In a land where health care illiteracy is prevalent and disease outbreaks can spread quickly due to poor environmental and sanitation conditions, how do you efficiently document individual medical histories and monitor public health?

In Zambia, health care institutions are using innovative technology to track and cater to health care needs. SmartCare – conceived in 2003 and developed by Zambia’s Ministry of Health and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention – is an electronic health record (EHR) system designed with local challenges in mind.

How does it work?

Similar to loading money onto a D.C. Metro SmartTrip card, medical personnel can load a patient’s health care records onto a SmartCare card to be taken home for safe keeping. Records include personal information about illness, prescriptions, lab results and more, and data analysis of records can reveal trends in the spread of disease.

The SmartCare system is designed to function in areas with minimal telecommunication capabilities and frequent power outages. Lending credibility to the system and expanding its reach, the World Health Organization, USAID and UNICEF are among SmartCare partners.

The result?

In addition to aiding doctor efficiency with user-friendly, rapid data-entry capabilities, SmartCare is intended to improve data accuracy and enable cost-effective, confidential, life-long quality health care.

With the benefits to Zambian patients in mind, I wonder how this system can be applied to improve health care in other parts of the world. For example, considering the system’s reliability and ease of use, how could it be used to improve health care in disaster relief situations?

What’s up with electronic medical records in the U.S.?

Even in a community where the average person can complete a medical form unaided, there are benefits to implementing an EHR system. Think about it – how much time have you wasted filling and re-filling out forms at the doctor or dentist office? Are you sure you remembered every detail each time?

We’ve all heard about the Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2014. We won’t go into the details here, but one program initiative is to advance the transition from paper records to EHRs. According to Medical News Today, many question the ease of use and integration process of this new IT system, and there’s no doubt that others are concerned about privacy issues.

Can we take a lesson from our friends in Africa?

A SmartCare system in the U.S. could address concerns about ease of use and confidentiality of EHRs. Personally, I’d appreciate having a password-protected card or flash drive containing all my medical records and insurance information. If doctors and dentists accepted this form of information transference, it would save a lot of time during visits.

What’s your take on adopting EHRs in the U.S. – an important initiative or expensive waste of time?