The war against cancer and DTC awareness

Jan/18/2007 07:06 Filed in: Current DTC
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On Wednesday, after decades of grim news, the American Cancer Society reported the steepest decline in United States cancer deaths in the 70 years since nationwide data has been compiled. In 2004, there were 3,014 fewer cancer-related deaths than in 2003—which was the first year the society had ever recorded a drop in cancer deaths. The back-to-back decreases have specialists hoping that they may at last be gaining the upper hand in their long battle against the disease. Did DTC have any impact on the decline in cancer deaths? That can be debated by a lot of people but this encouraging news is more reason why sites like getbcfacts.com are needed as we still have a long way to go.


There are a variety of reasons for the decline in cancer deaths in the US at a time when they should be increasing with the aging population. There are many new drugs on the market, people are proactive in cancer prevention and early detection and of course there is a decline in people who smoke. While this is a good first start the pharma industry still has a long way to go.

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I really believe that the pharma industry needs to do more to increase awareness of cancer, it symptoms and possible treatment options. When my mother was diagnosed with colin cancer 6 years ago I went online to try and get information the problem was that there was too much information and most of it was not consumer friendly. Today sites like getbcfacts.com are a model for what patients are looking for the; the basic information of breast cancer and treatment options. There should be site like that for all types of cancer because today a diagnose of cancer does not mean a death sentence.

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One of the advantages of DTC is that it can increase awareness of disease conditions but the industry needs to do more. Instead of looking at the ROI of a campaign like this we need to know that by helping make people aware of early signs of cancer we can save lives. If a pharma company can spend as much on an unbranded site as a branded site they need to know that it will lead to a better customer perception of the industry and their brands. Anyone who has watched a close relative or family member die from cancer knows that if they only could have caught the disease sooner maybe their loved ones could still be around. This to me is what DTC is about...reaching and touching patients and making them aware that if their cholesterol is untreated it could lead to coronary heart disease..to let them know when to see a doctor if there is a lump in their breast. I think somewhere we have become so engulfed in numbers that we fail to see the patients who can lead a better life because of what we do. Maybe I am an idealist but if I can touch just one person and give them information that could lead to a better quality of life then I know it's a start....

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