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Silver Spring, MD
We Can Do This campaign!
The National Medical Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Partner to Raise Awareness About Risk for Severe COVID and Available Treatments
Communications materials aim to help keep more people out of the hospital or from dying from COVID.
The National Medical Association (NMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s COVID-19 Public Education Campaign, We Can Do This, have partnered to educate patients about their risk for severe COVID and the availability of treatments.
As part of the effort, the NMA plans to increase awareness about COVID treatments among the community and at-risk patients on its digital and social media platforms. The organization will, furthermore, engage over 60 physicians from its 6 regions and 26 specialties to open conversations with patients regarding available COVID treatment options and the potential benefits, if initiated early in the course of their disease. The hope is to prevent catastrophic illness or complications.
NMA President Garfield Clunie, M.D., remarked, “Pandemics, such as COVID-19, highlight the inadequacies in our current health system, the lack of coordinated preparedness to fend off rampant disease, and the fragile state of the public health safety net system that supports underprivileged and underrepresented people.” He further stated, “These conditions significantly impact our patients’ and their families’ ability to take care of their most basic health needs.” The We Can Do This Campaign aims to connect with Americans from all backgrounds.
The We Can Do This campaign has created easy-to-understand patient education materials, in both English and Spanish, that explain who is at increased risk for severe illness from COVID, the availability of COVID treatments, and the importance of early treatment. The materials, which include information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and culturally tailored content from the We Can Do This campaign’s team of multicultural experts, are being shared with NMA’s members and networks.
While the Campaign aims to build confidence in keeping up to date on COVID vaccines, it also reinforces basic messages about prevention and treatment of COVID. Though most people with COVID have mild symptoms, some can get severely ill, require hospitalization, and even die. Educating patients on their risk factors, treatment options, and the timing of when they need to start treatment can help keep them out of the hospital.
About the National Medical Association: The National Medical Association is the largest and oldest national organization representing African American physicians and their patients in the United States. The NMA has long asserted police excessive use of force as a public health issue and has published both a position statement on police excess use of force and a position paper on urban violence in minority communities. The organization is committed to addressing issues of social determinants, structural violence and systemic racism that fosters an environment that leads to the disproportionate policing of communities of color.
About the We Can Do This campaign: We Can Do This is a national initiative to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID vaccines and educate the public about the availability of COVID treatments while reinforcing basic prevention measures. Through a nationwide network of trusted messengers and consistent, fact-based public health messaging, the Campaign helps the public make informed decisions about their health and COVID, including steps to protect themselves and their communities. The effort is driven by communication science and provides tailored information for at-risk groups.
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Contact: Michael L. Peery, President & CEO
Len Gar Media Consultants
(312) 217-2260
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