The Official Medtipster Blog

www.Medtipster.com Source: PartnersRx – 5.23.12

Do you know that 59,695 U.S. adults were diagnosed with melanoma, and 8,623 died from the disease in 2008 (the most recent year for which data is available)?

May is Skin Cancer Awareness month and, with summer right around the corner, the ideal time to increase awareness of the importance of the prevention, early detection, and treatment of skin cancer.

Click here to receive “Are You Protected From The Sun?” written by the PartnersRx Clinical staff for even more information on how you can prevent skin cancer.

Tylar Masters

Healthcare Awareness Campaigns, A Look Into the Future

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots wore pink Nike shoes during the October 4^th home game versus the Baltimore Ravens. Other NFL players honored October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month by wearing pink gloves, sweatbands and using pink towels.

The shoes, in particular, interest me. DeAngelo Williams, running back for my favorite team, the Carolina Panthers, came up with the idea for the pink Nike cleats because an NFL player’s cleats are so vital to their success on the field, much like breast cancer awareness is vital to the success of finding a cure. Williams’ mother suffers from breast cancer and her three sisters have all fallen victim to the disease.

Since the dominant audience of an NFL game is male, I imagine that by adding anything to do with breasts to the mix will raise some interest. I have to say, what a fantastic offensive play by Susan Komen for the cure!

This is one example of how creating a unique campaign for raising awareness about healthcare issues is extremely effective. Other similar campaigns you’ve probably seen are American Heart Association and Campbell Soup’s Go Red for Women, walks for the different causes such as autism or diabetes, red ribbons for AIDS awareness, as well as thousands of Facebook pages for different causes like Parkinson’s Disease, Lou Gehrig’s, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.

Every awareness campaign shares one major issue in common: the need for a cure. A cure in most cases means a prescription. While pharmaceutical companies are hard at work in trials desperately trying to find a formula that will cure many illnesses, they are already dispensing formulas that will cure and/or relieve symptoms of other illnesses, such as strep throat, high cholesterol and depression. Many Americans are dependent on these drugs in their daily lives to suppress symptoms, and others are in need of these drugs when they become sick. (Have you ever tried to “wait out” a cold? It’s terrible!)

Diseases and illnesses don’t care who you are, what insurance you have, how much money you make, how much money is in your savings or retirement fund, how old you are, your gender, your status on facebook… I think you get my point. With the current state of healthcare, prescription drugs need to be affordable.

Where one awareness campaign ends, another one begins. We need to raise awareness about healthcare and prescription drug costs. Because when there finally is a cure, will we be able to afford it?

For more information on DeAngelo Williams’ breast cancer awareness foundation, visit www.deangelowilliams34.com.

Tylar Masters
Manager of Marketing and Communications
Medtipster, LLC.
email: tmasters@medtipster.com
web address: www.medtipster.com