Andrew, you just reminded me of a worrying TV interview I saw a few years ago. In it, a doctor was talking about his concern that people were confusing the term "cancer treatment" with "cancer cure". Of course, there is a huge difference between these terms. The doctor went on to say that Big Pharma was more interested in looking at cancer treatments that don't make the cancer go away, rather they control it (stop growth, inhibit metastasis, etc.) because there is more money in the "come back"; people who require a cure only  need your services once. People who need a constant supply of something will come back again and again. Of course, it is natural to assume that everyone out there wants a cure...and this natural assumption is automatically applied to Big Pharma, who, with their fancy advertising, project as human an image as possible. (We have all seen that commercial where the pharmaceutical researcher tells us why he became a researcher, and shows a clip of his wheelchair-bound daughter doing her homework.)

So, I suppose another similar question would be "how is HL used in advertising, and to what end?" 


-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Andrew Pleasant
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 5:47 PM
To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1673] Re: Wednesday Question: Health Literacy
and Marketing


Hi,

This might have changed as I haven't updated my talk for a few months 
and there was a big push by pharma to get this into the European 
Union .. but these examples are either close too or are 
direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals which (again, last 
I checked) was legal in only the U.S. and New Zealand out of all 
'high-income' countries globally. This is so prevalent here that 
people accept it as 'normal' and don't question it too often ... but 
we might do well to learn from the rest of the world that it doesn't 
have to be that way. One study found that for every $1 the 
pharmaceutical industry spent on DTC advertising in that year yielded 
an additional $4.20 in drug sales. All of this is clearly not driven 
by medical needs or a wise use of health care dollars. All in all, 
another huge challenge for health literacy skills and just like many 
of the health literacy efforts being pushed by pharma it is not a 
given that they will actually be used (or are useful) to improve 
health literacy.

And to top it all off, the huge equity mismatch in research spending 
still goes on ... only a small percent of worldwide expenditure on 
health research and development is devoted to the problems that 
primarily affect the poorest majority of the world's population The 
research is being directed at the markets that can pay, not actual 
health needs.

Andrew



>Hi Joan:

>

>The least dangerous assumption would be to assume that such 

>endeavors are profit or brand-driven or they would not exist. 

>

>Sad to say, the days of corporate clients sharing their largesse 

>with the greater community without some kind of a tie-in mechanism 

>of benefit to them are long gone.

>

>As an example of how non-profits, independent associations founded 

>in the public interest, and quasi-government agencies can be 

>manipulated to influence behavior and outcomes in  society today, 

>consider today's news about the role of cholesterol in heart 

>disease. This is really not news. Most scientists, but not the lay 

>public, have been aware for some time now that much more than the 

>lowering of cholesterol is necessary to reduce the incidence of 

>heart disease in America.

>

>Much of this started with drug industry sponsored programs, such 

>as Countdown on Cholesterol and the independent (and also drug 

>industry sponsored) NHLBI National Cholesterol Education Program 

>founded in 1985 - just before Merck launched Mevacor, their 

>blockbuster cholesterol lowering drug. What a coincidence!

>

>Paul

>

>

>

>

>

>Start the year off right. 

><http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489>Easy 

>ways to stay in shape in the new year.

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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-- 
-----------------------------------------------
Andrew Pleasant
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Ecology
Extension Department of Family and Community Health Sciences
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Cook Office Building, 55 Dudley Road #207
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
phone: 732-932-9153 x. 320; fax: 732-932-6667
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