H+K Strategies appoints APAC health and wellness practice lead

Hill+Knowlton Strategies has appointed Elke Pascoe as the head of its Asia Pacific health and wellness practice.This is a new practice area that recognises the expanding interface between health and pharma, consumer marketing, public affairs and the health and well-being of consumers.She will take on the role from November 2014 and will drive the firm’s health and wellness offering across its 16 offices in Asia Pacific.  She will initially be based in Sydney and will move to Singapore in February 2015.Pascoe (pictured) brings to Hill+Knowlton Strategies more than 16 years’ experience in consumer health, pharmaceuticals, healthcare provision, and food and nutrition. She has worked with, and within, some of the world’s leading companies and brands in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, including MSD, Bayer, Johnson and Johnson Medical, Reckitt Benckiser, Mars Food, Mars Petcare, The Wrigley Company, Coca-Cola, Nespresso, and Nestle.“The health and wellness business sector in Asia Pacific holds tremendous opportunities for the communications industry in the areas of healthcare provision, investment, increased regulation and the exponential growth in the use of social media and digital sources of healthcare information,” said Pascoe.Vivian Lines, global vice chairman and chairman Asia Pacific said, “The health and wellness business sector in Asia Pacific is witnessing strong growth, but is also highly complex, involving a blend of B2C, B2B and B2G communications. I see this sector as a tremendous opportunity for Hill+Knowlton and Elke’s appointment enables us to drive this forward faster using her experience and knowledge of working both in-house and consulting with pharmaceutical, healthcare, and consumer companies, combined with our approach to integrated communications across multiple markets.”Pascoe will be a direct report to Lines and a matrix report to David Bowen, Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ global healthcare practice lead, based in Washington DC.