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During the Pandemic, We Are All Health Communicators
Heather Pierce
January 21, 2021
What that means for brands — and what research tells us about what works With unparalleled high stakes and the need for urgent collective and individual action, the pandemic calls on each of us to support public health efforts. And with the fast-moving pace of information and misinformation alike, effective health communication is critical. While...
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With Development of the COVID-19 Vaccine, Pharma Gets an Opportunity to Address Reputational Standing
Marc Longpre
January 13, 2021
There’s always opportunity in the middle of difficult times, to paraphrase Einstein. For biopharma, the opportunity in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis was always going to be whether the industry could seize the moment at which it had the world’s attention. The scientists delivered. That two vaccines (so far) have resulted from technology that...
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Hidden Depths – The Impact of COVID-19 on the Pharmaceutical, Biotech and Devices Industries
Mark Senak
July 27, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is shifting gears and with it, the ways in which we cope and respond. We are moving from an initial state of surprise, fear, consternation and a general lack of knowledge to an evolving understanding of consequences of the pandemic in our lives – that we are going to have to adapt...
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Is It Too Risky to Visit Your Doctor?
Anne de Schweinitz
May 14, 2020
The direct health impact of COVID-19 is flashed in front of us every day in the staggering numbers of infections, hospitalizations and deaths recorded around the globe. But the indirect impact of the pandemic due to the massive disruption in the healthcare delivery system – the cancelled surgeries, delayed appointments and undiagnosed illness – will...
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Difficult Realities Related to Antibody Testing as a Tool in COVID-19 Recovery
Mark Senak
May 6, 2020
In the 1980s as the AIDS epidemic took root in America, there was no test for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Rather, once developed, the HIV-antibody test was used as a surrogate marker to identify the infected. Particularly before there was a treatment, an antibody test became a...
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Will COVID-19 Turn the Tide on Innovation for Pharma Companies?
Emma Cracknell
April 8, 2020
The current COVID-19 pandemic has launched huge humanitarian waves across the globe, uniting the general public, healthcare providers, governments and industry around one common goal – to beat the virus. Even as countries begin easing the restrictive containment measures that govern our daily lives, we can be certain that the post-COVID-19 world will look radically...
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J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference: FDA Speaks
Mark Senak
January 9, 2019
Yesterday Commissioner Scott Gottlieb was to take the podium to address attendees at the J.P. Morgan 36th Annual Healthcare Conference being held in San Francisco. Unfortunately, due to the current government funding impasse, he did not make it. But had he been there, it is fair to say that he would have had a lot...
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Gottlieb Signals Depth and Scope of Changes Coming to Drug and Device Approvals in FY 19 Budget Comments
Mark Senak
April 20, 2018
On April 17, 2018, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb appeared before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development to discuss the Fiscal Year 2019 budget request for FDA. He began by touting the broad achievement in record approvals last year for new molecular entities, generic drugs and medical devices. Faster approvals and a lower regulatory...
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The Best of Cannes Lions Health: Smart Ideas, Well-Executed
Heather Pierce
June 20, 2016
The sheer volume of inspiring and excellent work shared at this year’s Cannes Lions Health has been remarkable—from breathtakingly beautiful films to stunning works of art and fantastically creative social campaigns. As I watched the awards ceremony presentations, I had two realizations. First, as health communicators we often get weighed down by our largely conservative...
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Cannes Lions Health: Empathy Is the Key to Life-Changing Creativity
Heather Pierce
June 18, 2016
Earlier today at Cannes Lions Health, Genentech (a FleishmanHillard client) shared the powerful findings of their Lung Cancer Project, a study which sought to identify and understand unconscious bias. They found that an astonishing three out of four people had negative perceptions about lung cancer, which likely contributes to the high percentage of people diagnosed...
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Is It Enough to Mean Well? The Importance of Empathy
Heather Pierce
March 3, 2016
A few weeks ago, I was helping to lead a client message training session for an amazing group of female philanthropists. These women are leading incredible global health initiatives, from addressing gender-based violence in Honduras and Trinidad to transforming sanitation in Vietnam and detecting and treating cervical cancer in India. As we were discussing their...
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Can Technology Bridge the Gap Between Knowing and Doing?
Heather Pierce
October 14, 2015
Chronic disease prevention isn’t sexy. Its core tenets induce eye rolls with their basic simplicity: “Eat better. Exercise more.” Ugh, how boring. Isn’t there some pill I can take to stave off a heart attack or cancer? A one-time shot to make me diabetes-proof? Healthcare providers and public health professionals have long struggled with how...
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The FleishmanHillard 2015 Social Health Survey
Ephraim Cohen
April 7, 2015
How people care for themselves and others using social and mobile media Which networks people use and how they use them differs greatly depending on age range as well as whether the person is looking for information about their own health or finding information as a caregiver to someone else. The charts below show the...
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Putting Ebola Into Context
Pippa Galbraith
October 17, 2014
Striking a delicate balance between communicating a healthcare threat and managing public perceptions “Rumours and panic are spreading faster than the virus,” said Dr Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organisation on Monday this week. In the same speech she called the Ebola outbreak “a crisis for international peace and security”. While the...
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No Roar From Pharma at Cannes Lions Health
Jenyne Engelhardt
June 15, 2014
And the Grand Prix winner is…Well, turns out we’re going to have to wait until next year at least in the pharmaceutical category. The pharma jury at the inaugural Cannes Lions Health festival shocked the audience at the Palais des Festivals by opting not to award one, throwing down a challenge to clients and agencies...
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Saving Lives Is a Creative Endeavour
Orla Burke
June 15, 2014
What if mobile phones could detect cancer cells? Or an ultrasound was performed via television? How would these disruptive technologies impact healthcare models and how would communications adapt to help save lives? These were amongst some of the most provocative questions asked on day one at Lions Health. During a session entitled Creative Ideas and Innovators...
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Curiosity, Creativity and Healthcare
Anne de Schweinitz
June 12, 2014
Some might think that those of us who work in healthcare lack the creative instinct, that our analytical minds and the rules restricting marketing and communications in the industry squeeze out any room for real originality and inspiration. I disagree completely. When I was a kid my favorite topic in school was biology. I was...