Pulmonary Hypertension Association to Launch The Right Heart Campaign During Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month
SILVER SPRING, Md. (PRWEB) November 06, 2017 -- The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is launching The Right Heart™, a national campaign to make the public aware of pulmonary hypertension (PH), a progressive, lung disease that is often misdiagnosed and can cause right heart failure and death. PHA is introducing the campaign in November as part of its Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month activities, which are sponsored by Actelion with in-kind in-store, digital media and event product donations from CVS Specialty, the specialty pharmacy of CVS Health.
The Right Heart blog and campaign will educate the public about PH while using social media to highlight how adults and families of children living with PH can fight back through PHA’s advocacy, support, education and fundraising programs. The campaign’s Facebook Live events will also highlight PHA’s Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center (PHCC) accreditation program.
PH, which affects adults and children of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, results in high blood pressure of the lungs when the arteries in the lungs become damaged, narrow or stiff. The disease forces the right side of the heart to pump harder and can lead to right heart failure and death. Symptoms of PH are non-specific and include shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain. Consequently, people with PH can go months, sometimes years, believing they have asthma or other less life-threatening illnesses. Most people living with PH are ultimately diagnosed with an advanced form of the disease. Early and accurate diagnosis is vital for every patient suspected of having PH. Treatments are available for two forms of PH — pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) — and can extend and improve the quality of life for many living with the disease.
Through its The Right Heart™ blog, videos and social media, the campaign will share stories that illustrate how adults, teens and children who have pulmonary hypertension (PH) are living their best lives. Through memes and other social media messages, the campaign will also educate the public about diseases that can be associated with PH, which include congestive heart disease, COPD, scleroderma, lupus, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary embolism and other conditions. PHA also invites the public to participate in events that will be held throughout November, including a PH advocacy day, Facebook Live events and both patient-focused and professional webinars.
The campaign also extends support of PHA’s #Heart2CurePH public awareness ads, which air on TV and radio and appear in national magazines. Throughout November 2017, ads will also run in CVS pharmacy stores across the U.S., and PHA’s The Right Heart campaign messages will appear on CVS Health’s social media pages.
As part of the The Right Heart campaign, PHA has created an easy-to-use at http://www.theRightHeart.com that gives members of the PH community and the public ways to participate in the campaign. The toolkit includes The Right Heart campaign badges and instructions; informational memes; ads; advocacy resources, support information, fact sheets and a downloadable poster.
About the Pulmonary Hypertension Association
Headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is the country’s leading pulmonary hypertension organization. PHA’s mission is to extend and improve the lives of those affected by PH; its vision is a world without PH, empowered by hope. PHA achieves this by connecting and working together with the entire PH community of patients, families, health care professionals and researchers. For more information and to learn how you can support PH patients, visit http://www.PHAssociation.org and connect with PHA on Twitter and Instagram @PHAssociation and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PulmonaryHypertensionAssociation.
Jordan Jennings, Pulmonary Hypertension Assoc., https://www.phassociation.org/, +1 (240) 485-0768, [email protected]
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