GLOBALHealthPR

Today’s post comes to us from our GLOBALHealthPR Australia partner, VIVA! Communications.

Today we are teaming with the Epilepsy Foundation to release new research coinciding with Purple Day – a global, awareness raising initiative for epilepsy. Already today, the Epilepsy Foundation has raised $100,000 for this worthy cause, and is still counting!

New research released by the Epilepsy Foundation today reveals almost one-in-two Australian adults living with the country’s most common, chronic brain disorder are three-times more likely to experience abnormally high levels of anxiety compared to the general population. [Read more…] about Heightening Epilepsy Awareness on Purple Day

Today’s blog post comes to us from Dinesh Chindarkar, Co-Founder of our GLOBALHealthPR India partner, MediaMedic Communications.

It was a great experience to land in Sydney for the GLOBALHealthPR AGM amidst some of the great healthcare communicators from around the globe.  Sitting in the conference room at Park Hyatt Sydney overlooking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, it was the perfect setting to meet all the partners and discuss global trends in healthcare communication. I did notice that around the world there are newer challenges that the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are facing as far as effective communication is concerned. As the globe is getting economically stronger and flatter, health issues are dynamically changing. With increasing life spans, the global population is ageing, bringing with it new challenges for elderly care. The fast-increasing incidences of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer and other afflictions are taking a toll on public health and highlight a dire need for early diagnosis and care. [Read more…] about Content, Context and the Future of Health Communication

How appropriate that GLOBALHealthPR Australia partner VIVA! Communications chose Alexion’s David Kwasha to share his personal and Company views on rare diseases on World Rare Disease Day during our two-day annual general meeting in Sydney, Australia last week.

He challenged our group of leading, independent health-focused public relations firms to do more to advance the cause of rare diseases, and in particular, ultra-rare diseases.

In the U.S., a rare disease affects fewer than 200,000 persons, and an ultra-rare disease, fewer than 6,000.

David seemed happy to know that GLOBALHealthPR has already supported the location and identification of nearly 100 percent more children with Progeria, most definitely an ultra-rare disease in which children age rapidly. To date, about 110 children have been identified living with Progeria, an increase from 50 or so just five years ago. We titled our campaign “Find the other 150” because at the time, about 200 Progeria children were estimated worldwide. [Read more…] about Realizing Rare Opportunities

While in Hamburg with our partners at fischerAppelt, I was able to catch a few sessions at Hamburg’s social media week. The most interesting session was focused on the neurobiology of social media, presented by Stefanie Kuhnhen of Grabarz & Partner and Markus von der Lühe of Adknowledge. The presenters conducted focus groups with digital natives (those 13-16 years old) and leveraged neurobiology research to explore why we engage with digital engagement the way we do. [Read more…] about The Future of Social Networking

Here in Sydney, we’ve just concluded our 2014 Annual General Meeting (AGM), the first to be hosted in Australia by our partners at VIVA! Communications. And, we could not be more excited about the outcomes! Early on, we got a heavy dose of local in-country updates from GLOBALHealthPR members, who reflected on accomplishments and challenges alike. Next, we used these responses to inform and refine our strategies moving forward. Our member agencies, from over a dozen countries, also shared the latest healthcare trends in their markets.

Most importantly, today is World Rare Disease Day and because of this we spent the greater part of the morning discussing the cold hard fact that medical research innovations alone cannot help patients with rare medical conditions. Our keynote speaker, David Kwasha, Managing Director of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, delivered a powerful message and queried why patients should be denied access to treatments for rare diseases. “Why should any human be discriminated against access to life-saving therapy simply because their disease is ultra-rare? Considering the majority of ultra-rare diseases are often the most life-threatening diseases seen in medicine, and commonly affect infants, children and young adults, we need much greater collaboration between government, industry and the general public in this exciting era in which science is unlocking breakthroughs,” said Mr Kwasha. He challenged partners to devise effective communications-driven strategies to address the dilemma of reimbursement for treatments for ultra-rare disease.

[Read more…] about GLOBALHealthPR Unites Down Under on World Rare Disease Day

Today´s blog post comes to us from Sara Nieto of our GLOBALHealthPR Spain partner, Berbés Asociados.

A client calls his communications partner regarding a new strategic direction that executives have just agreed to take. In the client’s mind, he already has plenty of activities he wants to convey. He provides his press office with new information, data and results to carry out his plan. This new announcement also has significant social importance, so it will interest the general public and is therefore newsworthy. [Read more…] about When Things Work Out Right