Journalists awarded for raising awareness of devastating lung disease
Winners announced for “The Boehringer Ingelheim COPD Communication Award – Eloquium”
Ingelheim, 17 November (World COPD Day 2004) – Three journalists were recognised today for their achievements in raising awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disease that kills more people than lung cancer and causes more smoking-related deaths than cardiovascular
disease.1
The Boehringer Ingelheim Communication Award – Eloquium attracted a total of 41 submissions from 13 countries, including entries from South Korea, Lebanon, Taiwan, and Russia. Entries were judged by an independent panel comprised of international medical experts recognised for their achievements in the area of COPD and in healthcare journalism.*
The three winning entries of the Eloquium Award are:
- Mr Jason Hidalgo, USA, Reno Gazette Journal, With every breath, hope
- Ms Kayt Davies, Australia, Australian Vital Magazine, Love your lungs
- Ms Chiu Yu Chen, Taiwan, China Times Weekly, Lung Obstruction makes heavy smokers wheeze like an ox carrying a heavy load
“The panel was delighted with the three winning entries as they demonstrated a thorough understanding of COPD and related key issues in an interesting, topical and knowledgeable way,” commented Leonardo Fabbri, Chair of the Judging Panel and Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy. “This is very important because despite its prevalence, there is a lack of awareness of COPD and the level of under-diagnosis is very high.”
COPD is a progressive respiratory disease that causes significant worsening of lung function and chronic shortness of breath that can severely limit physical
activity.2 It is the fastest growing cause of death in the world’s advanced economies and is projected to be the world’s third leading cause of death by
2020.3 Early diagnosis and treatment can greatly improve quality of life for COPD patients, yet many are unaware they even have the
disease.4
For their outstanding contributions to COPD reporting, each winner receives a one-week trip for two people to a mountain resort.
Eloquium is a communication award that is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. It has been awarded to three winners since 2003. For further information about the Awards visit
www.eloquium.org or
e-mail: eloquium@shirehealth.com
Notes to Editors:
*Judging Panel for Boehringer Ingelheim COPD Communication Award Eloquium 2004
- Professor Leonardo Fabbri
Chair of the Judging Panel and Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Professor Christoph Fasel
Professor for Media & Communication Management at the Hochschule fuer Wirtschaft und Medien in Calv, Germany
- Susanna Palkonen
Executive Officer, European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Associations, Belgium
- Patricia Reaney
Health Correspondent, Reuters
- Jenny Hope
Medical Correspondent, Daily Mail, UK
Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 152 affiliates in 45 countries and more than 34,000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of 7.4 billion euro while spending more than one fifth of net sales in its largest business segment Prescription Medicines on research and development.
For more information please visit www.boehringer-ingelheim.com
For further information please contact:
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
Judith von Gordon
Corporate Division Communications
55216 Ingelheim
Phone: +49/6132/77 35 82
Fax: +49/6132/77 66 01
e-mail
The Eloquium Award Secretariat
Shire Health International
Unit 6, 49 Atalanta Street
London SW6 6TR
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0)20 7471 1500
Fax:+44 (0)20 7471 1501
e-mail: eloquium@shirehealth.com
References
1. Zaher CA, Halbert RJ, Dubois RW, George DL, Nonikov D. Smoking Related Diseases: The Importance of COPD. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), 16-21 May, Seattle, Washington, USA; 2003.
2. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: NHLBI/WHO Workshop Report. National Institute of Health; 2001. NIH Publication No. 2701 Available at http://www.goldcopd.com.
3. Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Eds. The Global Burden of Disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Cambridge; Harvard University Press; 1996.
4. Rudolf M. The reality of drug use in COPD. Chest 2000; 117:29S-32S.
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