Getting fit for PR - May08

The healthcare public relations industry throughout Asia Pacific is growing and according to Patricia Tweed, VP healthcare for Weber Shandwick, Singapore has one of the highest per capita health spends in the region.

Last year, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) brought in $932 million worth of investments in fixed assets and $245 million in total business spending for the biomedical sciences industry. The Biomedical Sciences (BMS) initiative, which is spearheaded by the EDB; its investment arm, Bio One Capital; and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A STAR) Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), wrote in a press statement that this strong wave of investments pointed to an expanding base of manufacturing and research activities for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical technology and healthcare sectors in Singapore.

But what is healthcare PR? Matthew Thomas, senior account manager for Ogilvy Health PR in Singapore, said it generally encompasses advocacy relations, crisis and issues, medical congress support, spokesperson development, media relations and training, medical and consumer writing, and event organisation. He also said that healthcare PR "is not as dry as many people perceive it to be" and is probably the most specific and niche amongst all PR practices.

"The biggest misconception is that it is just about drug launches. We do far more than that in terms of health education, disease awareness and changing perceptions about a particular health issue. Advocacy is key in that practitioners have to engage with so many different stakeholders from patient groups, to opinion leaders, business heads to government," Tweed said.

Locating practitioners able to do what Tweed suggests might be an issue though. Thomas reckons that finding the right talent is one of the biggest challenges saying that "healthcare PR requires a special breed of people".

"In reality, healthcare practitioners need a good understanding of consumer, corporate, technology as well as healthcare practices. It is not just about drugs or hospitals," he said.

In the near future, Tweed says healthcare regulation by governments are becoming tighter with each country having different regulatory procedures in place which restrict what and how a company can market a product or service.

"Trusted health information source is another key issue as people can access information from many different sources, but have no way of knowing if it is true and independent. With the growth of digital media, this issue is set to grow and therefore clients need to monitor contents to protect their brands and ensure people are receiving the correct information," she says.

The emergence of web 2.0 and social media habits have raised red flags for some in this industry but Thomas says it has made healthcare PR easier and harder at the same time as well.

"It provides us with a great channel to communicate with our stakeholders. And like all PR campaigns, the success is highly dependent on the right messaging, the right communication avenues, and the right targets," he said.