A new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report titled The Silent Pandemic: Tackling Hepatitis C with Policy Innovation, made possible as a result of an educational grant from Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and published today, highlights the urgent need for countries around the world to develop strategies to tackle head-on the growing social and economic issues associated with Hepatitis C (HCV).
While the total number of infected individuals is unknown due to a lack of available data, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 150 million people globally are currently living with the blood-borne infectious disease, HCV. Of these, up to two thirds will develop chronic liver disease and one in five will develop cirrhosis. HCV is also the leading cause of liver transplantation worldwide and in the US the disease now accounts for more deaths than HIV.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/58671-janssen-silent-pandemic-hepatitis-c
The largest-ever morbi-mortality study of treatments for chronic heart failure has shown that adding the specific heart rate lowering agent Procoralan® (ivabradine) to standard therapy significantly reduces the risk of death and hospitalisation for heart failure.1 Results from this new study, SHIFT (Systolic Heart Failure Treatment with the If Inhibitor Ivabradine Trial), were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology1 in Stockholm and published in The Lancet.2
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/shift/44195/
International treatment guidelines – from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) – have advised that prevention of exacerbations should be a cornerstone of COPD management, placing equal emphasis on the management of future risk as it does on treatment of COPD symptoms.1 This is also confirmed in the latest data on the impact of season on the frequency of COPD exacerbations, showing an almost two-fold increase in the winter months. This is contributing to the increased morbidity seen during the festive season.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/nycomedtakeda/52782/
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today introduced the HomeLox portable liquid oxygen system. The innovative system enables oxygen users to generate and store the liquid form of oxygen in the home setting. The HomeLox system offers users the long-lasting and lightweight characteristics of traditional liquid systems, while freeing them from difficulties of filling and dependence on deliveries associated with conventional systems.
Home oxygen is a critical, life-sustaining medical treatment prescribed to nearly 1.5 million Medicare patients annually who suffer from respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/philips/45648/
According to a recent national survey, 17.1 percent of Americans lack health insurance, and more than nine million of the nation’s uninsured rely on federally qualified health centers (FQHC), non-profit community clinics and free clinics each year for primary care. While these clinics serve the critical health care needs of the uninsured, patients oftentimes cannot afford the medications prescribed by the clinic’s physicians, or navigate a fragmented system that only offers partial solutions. This is a particularly growing problem for America’s working poor.
Today, Medco Foundation and Dispensary of Hope (DOH), a not-for-profit pharmacy-focused social venture for the uninsured, introduced a new, national initiative to substantially improve the supply, delivery and management of critical prescription drugs to thousands of uninsured Americans who are managing a chronic illness.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54424-medco-dispensary-of-hope-prescription-drug-program-clinics-uninsured
National health initiative DRIVE4COPD today announced the launch of its new Ambassador Program, which gives fans the opportunity to join their favorite celebrity in a common cause: raising awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Ambassador Program marks the beginning of the Great American Screen Off, a nationwide push this fall to screen Americans for their risk of COPD at DRIVE4COPD.COM. Fans can now enter the DRIVE4COPD Celebrity Race Team’s ongoing competition to see who can screen the most people.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/46007-boehringer-ingelheim-great-american-screen-off/
Madison Taliaferro spent weeks in the hospital in 2012. After a decade of suffering from cystic fibrosis, she underwent a double lung transplant. She powered through the difficult surgery and the recovery that followed –long days of physical therapy and rehabilitation. Her parents were there. Her best friend visited from Kansas. Grandparents rotated shifts so she was never alone. But one request still lingered.
“I just wanted to see my dogs,” she remembers.
Having suffered from the effects of chronic illness for the decade prior, Madison was no stranger to long days at home, isolated from the school germs that could turn her illness into a critical condition with a single sneeze. When her friends couldn’t visit, her dogs were there. But at the hospital, they weren’t.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7835951-purina-family-pet-center-st-louis-childrens/
Medical transcription services convert provider dictations into accurate digital records for EHRs, boosting healthcare efficiency amid rising chronic diseases.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited, lifelong chronic disorder affecting nearly 100,000 Americans and a growing global health problem that will touch nearly 30 percent more people globally in the next three decades. Though new approaches to managing SCD have led to improvements in diagnosis and supportive care, people living with the disease still have severe complications to overcome. Many are unable to access quality care and are limited by a lack of effective treatment options.
In an effort to identify unmet medical needs for people with SCD, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), along with other groups, issued the State of Sickle Cell Disease: 2016 Report, evaluating the disease in four priority areas — access to care, training and professional education, research and clinical trials, and global health. The report shows that significant improvements are needed across all areas and that, though patients are living longer, the system of care needs to change to ensure a better quality of life. To address these challenges, ASH launched the Sickle Cell Disease Coalition along with more than 20 other organizations who are issuing a call to action that will amplify the voice of the SCD community, promote SCD awareness, and transform SCD care both in the United States and around the globe.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7903251-american-society-hematology-sickle-cell-coalition/
JAFRA USA, a leader in empowering women personally and professionally through a career in direct selling, is partnering with Beauty Bus Foundation, a national non-profit organization that brings dignity, hope and respite through beauty and grooming services to those who need pampering the most – people with chronic and terminal illness and their caregivers. JAFRA USA has selected Beauty Bus Foundation, an organization founded by women entrepreneurs, as its national charity given its shared mission to impact lives through beauty.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55834-jafra-usa-beauty-bus-foundation-empowering-women-chronic-terminal-illness
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, a private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) today announced the recipients of the “Innovations in Community Health” grants, which have been awarded to community health centers nationwide through a partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The grants will help community health centers increase access to quality health care and produce better health outcomes while reducing costs for patients and healthcare systems.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/61405-cvs-caremark-charitable-trust-awards-21-innovations-in-community-health
Takeda today announced the launch of a new expert Report on COPD, introduced at a Takeda organised press conference on the occasion of the 2012 European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress taking place from 1- 5 September in Vienna, Austria.
The Report, entitled ‘The Shifting Paradigm in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Management,’ was initiated and developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH and is a compilation of opinion articles from a panel of key international respiratory experts, the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Association (EFA) and COPD patients, reflecting updated guidance and research. The new expert Report was developed in response to a recent shift in emphasis in COPD management which now places future risk at equal importance to treatment of current disability. Treatment objectives are now divided into two groups: reducing symptoms and reducing risk.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/56582-expert-report-on-copd-launch