CEO of Epilepsy Action Australia slams “appalling” TikTok ‘seizure challenge’ trend
CEO of Epilepsy Action Australia, Carol Ireland, released a public statement yesterday, following a recent controversial viral trend on the video app TikTok, known as the “seizure challenge”. Ms Ireland commented she is “appalled that people are pretending to have seizures as if it’s a joke”. The latest challenge to have gone viral on TikTok,…
Top tips for WFH video calls
How to avoid faux pas & respect your fellow zoomies Working from home presents unique challenges and opportunities for those fortunate enough to be able to do so. Businesses and their employees are doing their best to navigate these unprecedented times, so it’s important to practice patience and respect. Here at VIVA! we are doing…
Aussies with CVD at higher risk from COVID-19
Tracking the incidence of COVID-19 globally, it is understood that people over the age of 60 with a pre-existing chronic condition, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes, are considered at greater risk to serious infection and complications.1 There has been a high prevalence of CVD in those dying from COVID-19 in Italy and China, two of the worst…
What’s in a name? Coining history’s deadliest pandemics
Here’s some scientific nomenclature to help kick-start your Monday! For centuries before the advent of coronavirus, many contagions, including the Bubonic Plague, syphilis, smallpox and tuberculosis, claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Ironically, many of these contagions were awarded a ‘rainbow’ of names. Syphilis – a bacterial infection commonly spread by…
The role of strategic communications in helping to navigate unchartered COVID-19 waters
Our very own VIVA! Communications Principal and owner, Kirsten Bruce, Sydney was recently quoted in pharmaceutical industry publication, Pharma in Focus on how to engage with staff while working from home during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Today, Kirsten shares further insights on how companies should communicate both internally and externally in this challenging, unchartered landscape.…
The rise of telehealth
For a long time, access to healthcare has been an ongoing struggle for many rural and remote communities around Australia, with many facing long wait times, limited access to specialist services, and the need to travel long distances to major cities. Furthermore, office-workers and parents with young children often have difficulty finding time to attend…
Aussies & Kiwis with incurable blood cancer receive newly subsidised treatment option
Today, VIVA! partnered with Celgene, a Bristol-Myers Squibb company, Multiple Myeloma Australia and Multiple Myeloma New Zealand to announce a newly reimbursed treatment option for Australians and New Zealanders living with incurable blood cancer, multiple myeloma. REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) – the first and only maintenance treatment in ANZ specifically indicated and reimbursed for those with newly…
Communicating with personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic
Our own VIVA! Communications Principal and owner, Kirsten Bruce, Sydney was quoted in pharmaceutical industry publication, Pharma in Focus today on how to engage with staff working from home during the current COVID-19 pandemic. She cited the importance of corporate messaging being “clear, concise and reassuring to their employees, customers and stakeholders alike, explaining that…
1 in 10 Aussies with epilepsy sustaining serious physical injuries
VIVA! Communications is delighted to be teaming with UCB today (Thursday, March 26, 2020) to highlight the serious injuries caused by epileptic seizures, and call for heightened awareness, understanding and support for the 250,000 Australians living with epilepsy. One in 10 Australians living with epilepsy experience a seizure-related injury each year, many of which are…
Sleep-deprived Aussies at risk of Alzheimer’s
This World Sleep Day, VIVA! partnered with GenesisCare outlining new research that linked just one night’s lost sleep to increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. This research highlights the urgent need for Australian’s to improve their sleep hygiene. The research, recently published in Neurology Journal, reinforces the strong link between lack of sleep and increased levels…