Immunotherapy National Public Awareness Campaign Helps Americans Take Control of Their Allergies

An estimated 50 million people in the United States have allergies and many of them don't have their allergies under control. In fact, according to a consumer survey, a majority of Americans are unaware of one of the most effective ways to treat severe or persistent allergies.

The treatment is called immunotherapy and, besides being obscure, it's plagued by numerous myths: it's expensive, ineffective, inconvenient, painful, experimental, even dangerous. In fact, immunotherapy is a safe, well-established, effective treatment that can actually prevent the allergic reaction and lessen, or even eliminate, the need for medication to treat allergy symptoms.

Immunotherapy's effectiveness in treating, and actually preventing, asthma, is even less well known, even within the medical community.

The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) wanted to raise awareness of immunotherapy so that a greater number of allergy and asthma sufferers could enjoy its benefits. Stories about allergies and asthma are of interest to the public and relatively easy to place with media, but the specific campaign objective — to place stories that include information about immunotherapy — was a greater challenge.

A public awareness campaign that combines national media relations, consumer education and an international consensus conference was launched in 1998 and continues to generate publicity and raise awareness. The campaign components are:

Consumer brochures. A series of consumer brochures was created, including an allergy Self-Quiz to help allergy sufferers determine if their allergies are under control and if immunotherapy might be an option. A companion Allergy Survival Guide described the three key components of allergy control — avoidance, medication and immunotherapy. The availability of the brochures in hard copy and on the College's Web site was publicized through a series of media relations campaigns.

Public opinion survey. A survey of 1,000 Americans was conducted to determine how many people suffer from allergies and their awareness of and attitudes toward available treatment options, including immunotherapy. One of the results surprised allergists: that self-reported allergies are twice as common as generally believed. This, along with results showing a lack of knowledge and understanding of immunotherapy, made the survey of interest to both trade and consumer media.

Meta-analysis. A meta-analysis of 24 clinical studies documenting the effectiveness of immunotherapy in treating asthma was published in the medical journal Clinical Therapeutics and publicized to consumer media through a news release and spokesperson interviews.

International conference. An international conference, Immunotherapy in Allergic Asthma, was held in August 2000 to present studies, and reach consensus on, immunotherapy for the treatment and prevention of asthma. An online CME course, conference proceedings and PowerPoint presentation for physicians, based on the conference presentations and conclusions, were created to further inform the medical community.

Consumer and trade media relations. The strategy of the media relations component has been to keep stories about immunotherapy in the news throughout the year, taking advantage of seasonal opportunities such as spring pollen season, late summer/early fall pollen and insect sting allergies, indoor and winter holiday allergies. Published studies, the consumer survey, the availability of brochures, and the consensus conference all were publicized through the media.

More than 370 consumer and trade media placements reaching an estimated audience/circulation of 140.7 million have been secured since the program began in November 1998. The campaign has helped generate more than 7,000 calls to the College's toll-free number to request brochures.

Stories have been placed with all categories of media: television, radio, Web sites and print. Perhaps the greatest success has been with major national newspapers and magazines. Time, Newsweek, USA Today, USA Weekend, the New York Times and Reader's Digest all have run stories on immunotherapy, as have numerous special interest consumer magazines such as Cooking Light, Fortune Small Business, Teen and Men's Fitness.

Examples of the messages include:

• Time magazine: "Allergies affect nearly 40% of all Americans — twice as many as usually estimated — and millions of them suffer needlessly or rely on medications they'd rather not take. According to a new survey, that's because two-thirds of them are unaware of other treatment options, like allergy shots, which are considered both safe and effective."

• CBS Evening News: "The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says that insurance will often pay for immunotherapy, and that in the long run, it's cheaper than taking prescription or over-the-counter medicines every day for the rest of your life."

• USA Today: " . . .for people with severe allergies, shots often are the best bet. . . shots might prevent allergies from developing in children."