Highlights

1999

• For the October kick-off, FDA Commissioner Jane E. Henney and NACDS President/CEO Craig L. Fuller participated in a national satellite media tour and press conference at the national press club, resulting in coverage by 97 media outlets, with a total media reach of more than 26 million contacts on September 30, 1999.
• The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) was the official co-sponsor of the 1999 campaign, involving commitments from its member pharmacies.
• TTTC was the subject of a Presidential message encouraging safe medicine use in late September: President Clinton stated "I commend all those participating for encouraging our citizens to protect their health through the proper use of medications."
• The "My Medicines" brochure was made available in 13 different languages on the Internet at www.fda.gov/womens/tttc.html, and traffic on the site tripled between September and October.
• TTTC received a letter of public endorsement from the American Medical Association, "for affirming that medication cards can be an important supplement for physician counseling by 'focusing on patient and consumer participation in assuring appropriate use of prescription medicine".
• More than 80 non-profit organizations, businesses, professional associations, and women's and ethnic groups were involved in the campaign. Activities included:
• Printing and distributing materials at conferences, universities, and community health centers.
• Linking to the TTTC web site.
• Reaching out to women with special needs, including non-English speaking populations and those with mental illness.
• Working with seven national nursing organizations, representing a variety of ethnic groups and people with mental illness, to reach more than 70,000 women and families from coast to coast.
• Extensive involvement from the pharmaceutical industry. For example: Bristol-Myers Squibb printed and distributed 100,000 brochures in OB-GYN clinics; Wyeth-Ayerst implemented a national media campaign; Merck Medco printed and sent 1 million brochures to their mail order customers and is conducting a formal evaluation of the brochure; and GlaxoWellcome, in collaboration with the Natioanl Community Pharmacists Association, conducted a national toll-free hotline (1-877 RX WOMEN) which was advertised in USA Today at the end of October.
• Companies such as Ford Motor Company and Pepco integrated TTTC into their employee assistance programs.
• TTTC was awarded the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award for "creating a national network to reach millions of women's with the message Use Medicines Wisely."

1998

• TTTC was conducted as a weeklong campaign in 14 cities, 13 rural counties, and on Indian reservations in 19 states. NACDS community pharmacies distributed more than 1 million brochures from their store counters in the participating cities.

1997

• TTTC was pilot-tested in Hartford, CT and Chicago, IL.

Future

• Pueblo, the federal information clearinghouse, has selected the "My Medicines" brochure to be one of two publications to date being promoted in the IRS tax form mailing to 4 million Americans.
• The National Wholesale Druggists' Association and the American Pharmaceutical Association have adopted TTTC for an FY2000 hospital in-patient information campaign.
• Girl Power and the FDA Office of Women's Health will jointly develop a safe medicine use information piece for adolescent girls with chronic illness.
• NACDS is considering using TTTC to broaden their outreach plans to the elderly population.

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