Filed under: mobile, Uncategorized | Tags: Apps, IBM, mobile, novartis, pharma, technology, vodafone
A unique partnership between Vodafone, IBM, and Novartis has successfully launched a mobile health initiative that truly makes a difference in the treatment of malaria in remote areas of Tanzania. The SMS for Life program uses a combination of mobile phones, SMS (Short Messaging Service) technologies and intuitive web sites to track and manage the supply of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs and Quinine injectables, both of which are key to reducing the number of deaths from malaria.
During the first few weeks of the pilot, the number of health facilities with stock-outs in one district alone, was reduced by over 75 percent. The early success of the SMS for Life pilot project has the Tanzanian authorities interested in implementing the solution across the rest of the country. Tanzania has around 5,000 clinics, hospitals and dispensaries, but at any one time, as many as half could potentially be out of stock of anti-malarial drugs.
Kudos to all those involved for making this happen. We can only hope that other drug companies continue to think of new and innovative ways technology can improve patient outcomes.
Full press release below via IBM.
LONDON - 14 Dec 2009: A new solution developed by IBM (NYSE: IBM), Novartis and Vodafone with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, is helping to save lives using everyday technology to improve the availability of anti-malarial drugs in remote areas of Tanzania
Called “SMS for Life,” the initiative uses a combination of mobile phones, SMS (Short Messaging Service) technologies and intuitive web sites to track and manage the supply of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) drugs and Quinine injectables, both of which are key to reducing the number of deaths from malaria.
The mosquito-borne disease causes nearly one million deaths in Africa each year, mostly among pregnant women and young children, and many people die because they simply lack quick access to vital medication.
Tanzanian child helped by SMS for life program and IBM LotusLive.com cloud computing (Click on photo for print-quality version).
The concept of using text messaging to improve stock management of life-saving medicines was developed by pharmaceutical company Novartis and a team of international students taking part in IBM’s internship program, Extreme Blue. The team came up with SMS for Life, as it relies on simple technology and fosters self-sufficiency. IBM was tasked with managing the overall project and Vodafone was invited to develop and manage a system based on simple SMS messaging that would help ensure dispensaries did not run out of vital stock.
After visits to clinics, hospitals and dispensaries across Tanzania, IBM, Novartis and Vodafone initiated a five-month pilot of the SMS for Life solution, covering 135 villages and over a million people in different geographic locations across Tanzania.
Vodafone, together with its technology partner MatsSoft, developed a system in which healthcare staff at each facility receives automated SMS messages, which prompt them to check the remaining stock of anti-malarial drugs each week. Using toll-free numbers, staff reply with an SMS to a central database system hosted in the United Kingdom, providing details of stock levels, and deliveries can be made before supplies run out at local health centres.
“This is an example of a truly innovative solution helping solve a humanitarian problem,” says Peter Ward of IBM, SMS for Life Project Manager. “After spending time on the ground, we created a project plan, developed the application with Vodafone and Novartis and established the best way to deliver the pilot, working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health. We expect other countries will also be able to benefit in the future.”
“Vodafone has worked closely with IBM, Novartis and MatsSoft, to develop a simple, robust and innovative system that is able to deliver even in the most remote African communities,” said Dr. Dianne Sullivan, Scientific Adviser, Mobile Health, of Vodafone. “The SMS for Life solution shows the tremendous potential of mobile technology to deliver social good through lateral thinking by helping to ensure supplies of life-saving drugs.”
During the first few weeks of the pilot, the number of health facilities with stock-outs in one district alone, was reduced by over 75 percent. The early success of the SMS for Life pilot project has the Tanzanian authorities interested in implementing the solution across the rest of the country. Tanzania has around 5,000 clinics, hospitals and dispensaries, but at any one time, as many as half could potentially be out of stock of anti-malarial drugs.
“The SMS for Life program has already had a positive effect in Tanzania,” says Senior Health Officer with Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania, Winfred Mwafongo. “I’ve seen district medical officers ordering urgent stock replacements for various health facilities. During a visit to 19 rural health facilities in one district alone, I saw huge improvements in their inventory management systems. I’m very impressed with the results so far and look forward to following the rest of the pilot through to completion.”
“Collaboration is critical to tackle health problems of the developing world, and we are proud to be part of the SMS for Life partnership, a project that will reduce stock-outs, and ensure that mothers and their young children in Africa have access to life-saving anti-malarial medicines,” says Silvio Gabriel, Executive Vice President and Head of the Malaria Initiatives at Novartis.
Designed as a public and private partnership leveraging the skills and resources of several companies, SMS for Life could have far-reaching implications for existing health systems worldwide. Several other African states are already keen to introduce the project.
Malaria Clinic in Tanzania helped by SMS for Life and IBM LotusLive.com cloud computing. Copyright: Olympia Wereko-Brobby. Click on photo for print-quality version.
About the RBM Global Partnership
The RBM Partnership is the global coordinator of the fight against malaria. RBM draws its strength and experience from hundreds of partners from malaria endemic countries, country donors, companies, non-governmental and community organisations, foundations and research and academic institutions. RBM partners’ collective aim is to reduce annual malaria deaths from around one million to virtually zero by 2015 through the implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP). This outlines RBM’s vision for a substantial and sustained reduction in the burden of malaria in the near and mid-term, and the eventual global eradication of malaria in the long term with the introduction of new tools. www.rollbackmalaria.org
About IBM
For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com.
About Novartis
Novartis provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on healthcare, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines, diagnostic tools and consumer health products. Novartis is the only company with leading positions in each of these areas. In 2008, the Group’s continuing operations achieved net sales of USD 41.5 billion and net income of USD 8.2 billion. Approximately USD 7.2 billion was invested in R&D activities throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 99,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
About Vodafone
Vodafone is the world’s leading international mobile communications group with approximately 323 million proportionate customers as at 30 September 2009. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents and around 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com.
Filed under: pharmaceutical marketing, Uncategorized | Tags: Big Pharma, bmj, brands, cochrane, pharma, pharmaceutical, tamiflu, transparency, trust
The internet was blazing hot yesterday and today about the latest, in now an ever-growing list of transparency issues with Big Pharma and blockbuster drugs. The latest victim – Roche’s Tamiflu. According to a recent analysis published by the British Medical Journal, it was concluded that Tamiflu had “modest effectiveness” against the symptoms of the flu in otherwise healthy adults — cutting symptoms by about a day.
The report, an update of a 2005 analysis by Cochrane Collaboration, excluded eight studies funded by Roche that haven’t been published and whose full data wasn’t given to the researchers. The exclusion reversed the group’s earlier finding that Tamiflu protects against complications.
The report raises questions about how drugs are reviewed, approved and distributed, Fiona Godlee, the British journal’s editor in chief, wrote in an editorial. The studies originally used to establish the benefits of Tamiflu were written by Roche employees and paid consultants, under-reported serious side effects and failed to clearly identify all the authors, she wrote. In at least one case, a study was attributed to a researcher who disavowed any involvement to the journal, Godlee wrote.
Follow the story here:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: friday morning, med ad news, pharma, pharmageddon 2012, physicians, s+r medical communications, trust, youtube
Be prepared.
Visit the site.
View the videos.
Know the issues.
Read the write-up in Med Ad News.
Filed under: advertising | Tags: advertising, AdViews, marketing, pharma, pharmaceutical, television, youtube
Simple and effective. More classics can be found at AdViews.
Filed under: physician | Tags: biotech, interactive, manhattan research, medical devices, nurses, online, Patients, pharma
According to a new study by Manhattan Research, approximately three out of four U.S. nurses recommend health websites to patients. The study, Taking the Pulse® Nurses v9.0, focuses on which technologies nurses have adopted, how they are currently using them, and how they plan to use them in the future.
It was noted that nurses are very savvy when it comes to using technology for health, averaging eight hours per week online for professional purposes. Nurses are also proactive in researching medical product information specifically online – over eighty percent have visited a pharma, biotech, or device company website in the past year. Merck, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi-Aventis have the corporate sites most visited by nurses.
So what does this mean for your brand? That nurses remain a key target for your promotional efforts.
Read the report here.
Filed under: behavior | Tags: green, pharma, physicians, planet, promotions, tchotchkes, the story of stuff
“S/He who has the most/coolest stuff wins!” That’s become the American credo. But where does all our stuff come from? And where does it end up when we toss it? And why? Watch this fast-passed, entertaining video and learn more about who PLANNED for us to become a society that thrives on consuming… and what the effects of our learning this lesson so well really are.
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: advertising, agency, Big Pharma, brand manager, pharma, pharmaceutical rep, product manager, relationships, RFP, s&r blog, s&r communications group, vendor
Part 2 of “How did pharma ad agencies become “expendable”?
The advertising agencies of course! The agencies no longer had to worry about strategy because the consultants and the brand managers had that all figured out. Thus, the agencies could simply take orders on what words and “pictures” they should “paint” on the ad concepts and be done with it. And if you are simply painting words and pictures onto paper (or electronic screens), then that can’t be very difficult, so it becomes a simple commodity and even easier for purchasing to decide who did what.
Who was last horse out of the barn?
Well, ashamedly it was the agencies themselves. As all of the above was going on, most of the agencies, being the good guys that we are and not wanting to rock the boat, simply let it happen. We sheepishly gave up our seats and voice by not saying a whole lot and not challenging the decisions that were being made. We gave it up without fight
Now I know what you are thinking: “You guys deserved it”; or “You didn’t add that much anyway” or “I never got strategic input from my agency” or “They always saddled me with the junior AE”.
Some or all of those comments are certainly true. But the fact of the matter is that most agencies did all of the above. They fell into the trap and believed that by simply executing what the “smart people” told them, they would earn more business. They by and large stepped away from the key issues of strategy, branding, messaging, and having the common sense and insight to tell their clients what they really need to know and hear. And, they didn’t yell loud and clear up and down the client’s marketing/senior management chain.
What is the fix for agencies if they are to hold their ground and claw their way back?
• Start with knowing the client’s business inside and out–the brand, the science, and medicine; the competition; and the real world. Only through knowledge can an agency bring insight, strategy, and solutions that will result in brand success.
• Demand and keep demanding to be part of the client’s marketing strategic decision team–The more an agency partners, participates and understands what the client’s ultimate issues and goals are, the better the agency can counsel and advise.
• Hire the best AEs you can, and couple them with senior-experienced agency personnel–While it is fine to have a junior AE in the day-to-day business mix, a senior level manager must and should be highly involved with a client’s business. Both the AE and senior level manager must frequently interact with the client team and must be sure that they bring valuable insight, strategy, and creative thinking to the client.
• Finally, have frank and direct conversation with your clients (all the way up and down their management team)–Create understanding and acceptance for the value and work that you bring them, and make sure that you are not simply viewed as a vendor or commodity. Have these conversations with high-ranking client managers to make sure they understand that you understand their business and are in it shoulder-to-shoulder along with them.
It’s time to take off the vendor uniforms, put away the hand trucks, and put on the business suits and deliver insightful, strategic, creative solutions.
-Dave Recht
