Community Relations: RSV Awareness Campaign

Challenge
MedImmune Inc., a Gaithersburg, M.D., based biotechnology company approached Franco Public Relations Group for a public-awareness campaign in metro Detroit to create awareness of a little-known, but potentially dangerous respiratory virus called respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.

Highly contagious, RSV strikes half of all children by the age of one. By age two, virtually all children have had RSV. For most otherwise healthy children, RSV usually amounts to little more than a cold. However, for at-risk infants, such as those born prematurely and children under the age of two suffering from chronic lung or heart conditions, the health consequences can be much more serious. Each year, as many as 2 percent of children who are hospitalized with RSV may die.

In addition to raising public awareness about RSV, MedImmune wanted to increase awareness of a prescription medication the company manufactures called Synagis® (palivizumab)—which helps prevent respiratory disease in infants and children at high risk for RSV infection. Synagis is the only humanized monoclonal antibody for the prevention of RSV.

MedImmune needed the public awareness campaign specifically in Michigan for two reasons. First, unlike most health insurance plans in the United States, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM)—the state's largest health insurance company—did not include Synagis in its list of reimbursable medications. The drug is extremely expensive, costing approximately $5,000 out-of-pocket for one RSV season. This high cost contributed to some at-risk infants not being treated because their parents could not afford to pay for the drug, and/or physicians were not willing to absorb the expense. Second, in comparison to other states, Michigan consistently reported low figures for sales of Synagis. MedImmune equated the low sales to the BCBSM issue and a lack of awareness of RSV among parents of infants at-risk and, at times, physicians and nurses.

Strategy

Franco's objectives for the campaign were to:

• Create a community movement advocating RSV education
• Increase awareness of RSV in metro Detroit and statewide
• Position RSV as a vital—and often overlooked—public health concern
• Empower metro area parents of at-risk infants to request information from their baby’s physician about RSV prevention and Synagis
• Have parents of at-risk infants ask their doctors for Synagis prevention therapy
• Approach BCBSM to consider changing its Synagis reimbursement policy

Target audiences included:

• Metro area mothers
• Pediatricians
• Key influencers/opinion leaders including the mayor of Detroit
• Community and religious organizations
• Parenting groups

Tactics used to carry out our strategy included:

• Commissioning a statewide survey to increase the general public’s level of awareness about RSV
• Supplying media kits and radio public service announcement scripts to metro Detroit media outlets
• Recruiting local physicians to serve as spokespeople
• Recruiting the president of the Michigan Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs as a parent spokeswoman
• Securing a proclamation declaring the month of November as RSV Awareness Month from the mayor of Detroit
• Partnering with The Alexis Foundation For Premature Infants and Children, a Michigan-based organization with a vested interest in RSV prevention
• Sending health bulletins with RSV information to health departments, local Mothers of Multiples clubs, religious organizations, churches and social service organizations
• Positioning a MedImmune representative as a speaker at Mothers of Multiples groups and civic organizations throughout metro Detroit
• Holding a news conference with a MedImmune representative, parents whose children have contracted RSV and a well-known Detroit-based neonatologist discussing the importance of RSV education
• Recruiting parents whose children have contracted RSV to serve on advisory board called The RSV Coalition, to advocate for RSV education and prevention
• Conducting letter-writing campaign to evoke changes to the current reimbursement policy at BCBSM

Results

Franco has been able to accomplish many things since first taking on the MedImmune account. Highlights include:

• Increased public awareness of RSV as a potentially serious health concern
• BCBSM’s coverage of Synagis as a reimbursable drug, based on the RSV Coalition’s compelling letter-writing campaign
• Dozens of articles in several metro Detroit newspapers including a front-page story with photograph in the Detroit Free Press
• Television and radio coverage, including a five-minute story on “Healthy Living,” a program on the ABC affiliate in Detroit
• Outreach to Michigan pediatricians, neonatologists, pediatric nurses and members of the Mother's of Multiples clubs
• Development of an interactive Web site where parents and other concerned parties may discuss RSV and its prevention
• Positioning The RSV Coalition as a viable grassroots organization dedicated to the prevention of RSV within the medical community and general public

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