Covid-19’s effect on Canada's health charities
Dr. Karen Lee of Parkinson Canada details how the pandemic has forced the organization to make some difficult decisions (550 words, 2.5 mins.)
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For health charities such as Parkinson Canada, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a substantial reduction in revenue, according to Dr. Karen Lee.
Dr. Lee is the President and CEO of Parkinson Canada, a not-for-profit health charity. Parkinson Canada aims to support people living with Parkinson’s with programs and services across the country. Additionally, the advocacy group assists with funding research to find a cure for the disease.
“Donations are being diverted to other places, and people are losing their jobs and are not able to donate,” Dr. Lee (photo below) explained on a recent episode of the NPC Podcast, a program for Pharma executives hosted by Peter Brenders. Brenders is CEO of the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation. (Listen to the episode here.)
“Another really important factor is that we rely heavily on events that build awareness—the walks, the bike [rides]—those are not able to happen [during the pandemic], so the money is not coming through that way.”
As a result of the decrease in funding, health charities have had to ask difficult questions, said Dr. Lee. At Parkinson Canada, the organization has had to alter patient support, change the way research is funded and make an overall pivot in how they conduct their charitable initiatives.
Using virtual tools, Dr. Lee went into the Parkinson community to better understand what patients required and how the organization could help during the pandemic.
“We heard loud and clear the importance of the support that Parkinson Canada does provide,” said Dr. Lee. “However, we knew we couldn't bring them [these services] in person. For us, we have an ageing population that lives with Parkinson's and they are not used to using technology such as virtual meetings. We had to figure out how to pivot and allow them to still come together in a supportive manner in a virtual way.”
Additionally, the organization is developing new support services and programs to deliver to its patients who have been forced indoors due to the pandemic. With exercise and wellness considered important for patients living with Parkinson’s, Parkinson Canada is developing a mobile app designed to help patients live better with Parkinson's, Dr. Lee said. The app will include personal coaching for patients.
The pandemic, and resulting decrease in revenues, have forced Parkinson Canada to change how it funds research.
Dr. Lee said the organization would not be funding pilot grants, but it will continue to fund trainees—medical students finishing their graduate work.
“I don't think people realize that health charities annually, all together, collectively fund $155 million into Canadian research,” she said. “Last year alone, at the start of Covid-19, health charities already saw a drop of at least $40 million [in funding receipts]. It was probably more than that over the course of 2020, and we will see what 2021 brings.”
The takeaway: With the recent enthusiasm from governments to support research for Covid-19-related therapies and vaccines, Dr. Lee is hopeful the enthusiasm will extend beyond the pandemic and into other disease areas.
“If we look at all the energies and efforts and funds that have gone into Covid-19, one very specific issue, we are seeing results, right? The vaccine is now rolling out. That's a proof of concept, right? If anything that is a brilliant proof of concept that if there is enough energy, enough funding, we can solve problems,” said Dr. Lee.
“I think what is going to be important moving forward, is working with the federal government to demonstrate that you can't pull back on health research.”
Further reading: Last month, Imagine Canada, an organization that works to strengthen Canadian charities and nonprofits, released a report on the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on the charitable sector. (Link here.)
YOUR HEALTHBIZ WEEK 03/16/21
According to a Reuters report, Roche has joined AstraZeneca in withdrawing cancer immunotherapies from the U.S. used for bladder cancer that has already been treated with platinum-based chemotherapy after follow-up studies failed to meet goals. In a statement, Roche said it is withdrawing the U.S. indication for atezolizumab in prior-platinum treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma. In February, AstraZeneca made a similar announcement for durvalumab. Both atezolizumab and durvalumab aim to take the brakes off the immune system by binding with the protein PD-L1, or programmed death-ligand 1, expressed on tumour cells and helps prevent the immune system from recognizing it as cancer. The treatments received accelerated U.S. FDA approval for bladder cancer, but they failed to deliver the positive follow-up data required by regulators.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. FDA granted Fast Track designation for poziotinib to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in previously treated patients with HER2 exon 20 mutations. Spectrum plans to submit a new drug application (NDA) for poziotinib later this year.
New data from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled BLAZE-1 Phase 3 study demonstrated bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) 700 mg and etesevimab (LY-CoV016) 1400 mg together significantly reduced Covid-19 related hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients recently diagnosed with the virus, Eli Lilly announced. The results provide additional efficacy and safety data that support the use of the dose recently granted both Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. FDA and a positive scientific opinion by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.
Novartis said its treatment canakinumab (ACZ885) did not meet the primary endpoint of overall survival in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in a Phase III study, Reuters reports. The Phase III CANOPY-2 study evaluated canakinumab in combination with the chemotherapy agent docetaxel in 237 adults with non-small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed while on or after previous platinum-based chemotherapy and PD-(L)1 inhibitor immunotherapy, according to the Swiss drugmaker. Canakinumab is a human monoclonal antibody that could enhance anti-tumour immune response and reduce tumour cell proliferation, survival and invasiveness, Novartis said.
UPCOMING NATIONAL PHARMA CONGRESS WEBINARS
The National Pharma Congress Spring Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12, 2021, and the Summer Webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Be sure to watch the NPC HealthBiz Weekly for updates on the event.
CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our avocation and are an inspiration to others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee's view, they stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2012 Inductee
Peggy Ahearn
Canadian Association of Wound Care
Toronto
Editor’s note: Peggy has been the principal at Ahearn & Associates—where she provides services such as Business Development, Project Management and Strategic Planning in the Continuing Health Care Market—since 2006.
Peggy Ahearn’s career in healthcare has included clinical care, sales, marketing, and publishing. She practiced as a registered nurse and then moved into home healthcare as Manager of Business Development for Paramed Healthcare, an Extendicare division. Ahearn was then promoted to Regional Manager for Ontario and Quebec and Sales Manager for Protect Alert, a personal security device.
“I discovered the whole world of business, and I always wanted to move to the next level,” says Ahearn.
The next level was gaining marketing experience as a Product Specialist for Baxter in the company’s home parenteral nutrition division and then later as Product Manager in wound care at Sancella, now known as Molnlycke.
Ahearn was interested in broadening her scope, and after being approached by a head hunter, plunged wholeheartedly into healthcare publishing and continuing health education.
She joined The Medicine Group, which had a parent company in the UK, as an account manager in 1988, and two years later was promoted to President. It was a steep learning curve for Ahearn, but under her 15 years of leadership, the company grew dramatically in revenues and profits.
At The Medicine Group, Ahearn spearheaded numerous initiatives. She launched Family Practice, a weekly publication for Canadian family physicians, launched Complete Medical Communications, which had offices in Montreal and Toronto, and opened a French-language office of The Medicine Group in Montreal. The Medicine Group was subsequently rebranded as The Health Initiative, an agency focusing on pharmacy and patient education.
Reflecting on her time in healthcare publishing, Ahearn is proud that turnover was infrequent in her shop.
“We had many long-term employees, which really makes for a strong, stable brand,” says Ahearn. “We cared about the business.”
Ahearn has been a mentor to many in healthcare publishing, and some of her former employees now hold senior roles at healthcare communications agencies.
Ahearn left full-time employment in healthcare publishing in 2005 to work on an independent basis. She ran patient support programs at Bayshore Home Health for one year and was asked to organize the World Union of Wound Healing Societies third congress, which took place in Toronto in June 2008. It was the largest wound care conference ever held in North America.
“It was a huge project, and it took two years of planning,” says Ahearn. “By all accounts, it was very successful.”
The success of the conference did not go unnoticed. Ahearn was later approached to run the Canadian Association of Wound Care (CAWC) and assume the Executive Director's role.
As she celebrates her first anniversary at CAWC, Ahearn sees many opportunities to involve a range of Canadian healthcare providers in wound care.
“Our big mandate is education, focusing on an interdisciplinary audience,” says Ahearn. “We have an excellent team, and our goal is to be the most innovative, progressive wound care association in North America.”
Says Ahearn of her career to date: “It has been a really interesting journey.”
NEXT WEEK
The 03/23 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly will feature Suzanne McGurn, President and CEO of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, on keeping evidence current during Covid-19. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next Tuesday.