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NEW YORK — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) Educational Foundation held its inaugural gala Monday night in Manhattan’s iconic Rainbow Room at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. CHPA is a 135-year-old national trade association representing the leading manufacturers and marketers of over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements. With a mission to serve as the trusted source of information on the responsible use of consumer health care products including O-T-C medicines and dietary supplements, CHPA celebrated members of the health care community whose partnerships with the foundation have made significant strides to advance public education on the safe use, storage and disposal of O-T-C medicines and dietary supplements. The sold-out event brought together over 200 industry leaders, self-care advocates and other supporters to celebrate the foundation’s mission of happier, healthier lives through responsible self-care.
From left to right: Anita Brikman of the CHPA Educational Foundation; Annie Walker of Walmart; and CHPA Educational Foundation chair Christopher DeWolf of Lil’ Drug Store Products.
The gala, hosted by Anita Brikman, CHPA vice president of communications and public affairs as well as executive director of the CHPA Educational Foundation, began with a video message from the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf.
The keynote address was delivered by Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at The Everett Clinic in Washington State, the chief of digital innovation at Seattle Children’s Hospital, an executive committee member of the Council on Communications and Media, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Swanson also serves as medical adviser to the foundation’s website, KnowYourOTCs.org.
“I’m thrilled to expand the reach and the consequent possibilities for messages reaching families about how to safely use, store and dose O-T-C medications,” Swanson said. “Partnerships across the digital and media landscape, like the one I have with Know Your OTCs will only improve our access to parent’s attention and increase the likelihood that smarter solutions become everyday solutions in their lives with their children.”
With her significant online presence, Swanson uses her blog (Seattle Mama Doc), podcast, social media channels and her parenting book, to translate science and parenting information to the public.
“Over-the-counter medicines are part of everyday life for Americans — in the middle of the night when a child has a fever, when busy parents need to treat their symptoms of allergies or colds to carry out their days,” Brikman said. “Our foundation’s work is the industry’s commitment to those families. We are working to ensure they have the information they need to select, use, store and dispose of medicines safely.”
The foundation also announced three awards during the gala:
The 2016 Distinguished Industry Partner of the Year was presented to Walmart. The retail giant and CHPA have collaborated for more than three years to educate consumers on the safe use of acetaminophen through the foundation’s flagship campaign Know Your Dose. Annie Walker, vice president O-T-C merchandising at Walmart, accepted the award.
The 2016 Outstanding Community Partner of the Year was given to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, which continues to partner with the foundation to educate consumers on how to safely dispose of unwanted or expired O-T-C medicines through community education efforts conducted by all 55 poison centers in the U.S. Stephen Kaminski, chief executive officer and executive director of AAPCC, accepted the award.
The 2016 Industry Leadership Award for Advancing Responsible Self-Care was presented to Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. for its O-T-C Medicine Safety Program, which was developed to instill a healthy respect for all medicines by teaching adolescents core concepts on the responsible use and storage of medicines. Since its launch in 2012, the program has been implemented thousands of times in communities across the country through teachers, health care professionals, community leaders and families. Other finalists for the award included Bayer Consumer Health for its Continuing Medical Education Program on oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs selection in patients with osteoarthritis and GSK Consumer Healthcare for its Nicorette and NicoDerm CQ “What’s Your Why” campaign.
