Early screening crucial to beating bowel cancer
Bowel cancer is Australia’s third most common type of newly diagnosed cancer 15,253 Australians are diagnosed annually with bowel cancer 4,346 of those die from bowel cancer each year, making it the second biggest cancer killer (behind only lung cancer) These are just some of the shocking statistics shared by Bowel Cancer Australia this Bowel…
Influencing the digital landscape
VIVA! Communications’ Principal, Kirsten Bruce, had the pleasure of presenting to Melbourne’s leading pharma marketers about how to influence the digital landscape at the Melbourne Pharma Marketing (MPM) breakfast seminar, hosted by Princeton Digital, at The Cullen Prahran, Melbourne on Monday, June 20, 2018. Entitled Marketing reinvented: New rules and new tools in this digital…
Aussie blokes considerably underestimate their risk of skin cancer & most delay doctor visits: new findings
Less than one-in-three Aussie blokes (32 per cent) consider themselves at high risk of skin cancer, despite 82 per cent reporting at least one known risk factor, such as fair hair, skin that burns easily, or spending time outdoors each week. Moreover, most men (61 per cent) have delayed a doctor visit despite their concern…
World Digestive Health Day 2018
Today is World Digestive Health Day (WDHD) 2018, supported by the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO). Digestive disorders can range from obesity to cancers to diarrhoeal disorders, the latter of which is ranked in the top 10 causes of mortality globally. WDHD aims to increase general public awareness of prevention, prevalence, diagnosis, management and treatment of…
Urgent community plea to reverse declining vaccination rates against fatal lung infection this Pneumonia Awareness Week
Lung Foundation Australia is teaming with researchers, doctors and patients Australia-wide today, during Pneumonia Awareness Week (13-20 May), to call for proactive community action to address the declining vaccination rates against pneumococcal pneumonia – an infection responsible for more than 15,000 GP visits, 8,000 hospitalisations, and 2,000 deaths among those aged over 65 each year. Their…
World Ovarian Cancer Day
Today is World Ovarian Cancer Day, an initiative of the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, which aims to raise awareness of this disease. Each day, four women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and of those, three will die from the disease, making it Australia’s deadliest women’s cancer. It is also usually diagnosed in its late stages, because there…
Launch of InsideOut Institute – Australia’s first institute for research & clinical excellence in eating disorders
l-r: Prof Stephen Touyz, Advisory Council Chair & Lead Researcher, InsideOut Institute; Dr Sarah Maguire, Director & Clinical Psychologist, InsideOut Institute; & Kirsten Bruce, VIVA! Communications Principal & Advisory Council member, InsideOut Institute Australia’s national institute for research and clinical excellence in eating disorders was launched today by Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt and…
How healthy is your sleep?
Sleep hygiene, also known as sleep habits, are the practices and routines that determine whether or not we have a good night’s sleep. Ensuring we have a good night’s sleep is crucial for both our physical and mental health, and there are many different things that can improve sleep hygiene. The bedroom An important factor…
Influencing the public debate around flu vaccination: a case study
Last month, VIVA! Communications successfully collaborated with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) to release new research regarding the attitudes of Australian adults toward flu vaccination. Alarmingly, it was revealed that one-in-two Australian adults do not plan to vaccinate against the flu this year. Alongside this, the research uncovered that many do not understand the…
First-Ever Therapy to Demonstrate Survival Benefit in Progeria
A new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that lonafarnib, a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), helped extend survival in children with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), or Progeria, an ultra-rare and fatal disease that causes premature aging in children. Children with Progeria live an average 14 ½ years, dying from heart…