WASHINGTON: With Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month just weeks away, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association hired Environics Communications as its AOR with the goal of educating the nation and improving the lives of approximately 100,000 people in the US with PH.
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare blood vessel disorder of the lung that can become life-threatening.
Effective as of October 5, Environics is working on an educational grassroots campaign targeted towards PH patients, their families, caretakers, and community, as well as medical professionals. It is a 90-day contract.
According to Jeff White, VP of Environics Communications, the agency's biggest hurdle is the lack of awareness.
To help PH community members overcome the stigma of the disease and publically share their stories, Environics and PHA are hosting webinars that provide information on how to get involved with fundraising, events, advocacy, and raising awareness through the media.
Environics will also provide media relations training to PHA's staff. Its employees will learn the most effective ways to approach and engage different types of media, as well as deliver a clear and consistent message.
This is PHA's first AOR, a step credited to the successful growth of the organization.
“We started out with a budget of $132,000 a year,” said the decade-old group's president and CEO Rino Aldrighetti. “This year, our budget is $6.5 million.”
According to Aldrighetti, Environics' attractive proposal, focus on grassroots campaigning, and proximity to PHA's Silver Spring, MD-headquarters sealed the deal.
“We needed an agency in a position to interact face-to-face,” said Aldrighetti.
As PHA continues to support the PH community, its future endeavors include the annual Congressional Luncehon on Capitol Hill and its 2010 International PH Conference.
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