All aboard the health train
pharmafile | June 29, 2005 | Feature | Medical Communications |Â Â Â
Making friends and influencing people is an area, it's widely agreed, where big pharma could do better. Few companies, however, seem willing or able to take on the challenge of turning round the industry's poor public image. Yet this is exactly what the French giant Sanofi-Aventis believes it has achieved when it turned an ordinary inter-city express into a moveable exhibition for two months earlier this year – promoting health rather than drugs.
During March and April this year, Le Train de la Vie, travelled to 27 French railway stations from its launch at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Its modest aim was to convince hundreds of thousands of ordinary people going about their everyday business that with just a little bit of extra effort, awareness and willpower, it is possible to change a lifetime of bad habits and best of all, have more fun in the bargain. And it could not have been more authoritative.
French president cheers on health train
The five exhibition coaches, addressing respiratory disorders, digestion and diet, mental health and neurological disease, exercise, and finally, motivation, had the support of all the major French medical and pharma faculties.
It was cheered on by a series of inspirational celebrities as well as patient groups for diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illness and cancer and last but not least, had the personal backing of French President Jacques Chirac.
But why should health promotion be an issue for a company whose business is the development of new drugs? As the material distributed to the public visiting the train made clear, the company believes health promotion is an issue it cannot ignore.
'Thanks to medical progress and the development of new research technologies,' the hand-out points out, 'the French population is ageing. Diseases which have not previously been a major challenge are gaining ground and lack of exercise and faulty lifestyles contribute to an increase in the incidence of these diseases. Despite being committed to the discovery of new drugs to treat and cure these diseases, a responsible company cannot ignore these changes. It cannot simply await the onset of disease before taking action and playing its part fully as one of the agents of public health.
Promoting public health
It is this role of fully participating in promoting public health and being seen to do so that has made the campaign so successful and worthwhile, says Sanofi-Aventis spokesman, Francois Gros.
"This isn't the first time we've used a train to promote public health. We have already had a 'truth about smoking' train, aimed at youngsters aged 12 to 14, a 'Genome train' and a 'European train against cancer' as well as information and prevention campaigns on sunbathing and insomnia," he explains. They haven't always been entirely successful, however.
Hidden agenda?
"There have been suspicions voiced in the media in the past that the company had a hidden agenda, that there was something highly suspect about a private company initiating a public health campaign and that we were probably more interested in advertising our drugs rather than promoting public health," says Gros. "This time, that did not happen. On the contrary, there was every indication that the campaign has improved our image because we were able to show that we are a part of the public health system and were therefore fully entitled to take this kind of initiative."
Key to that acceptance was the sheer professionalism of the exhibition – each coach used a combination of bar charts, posters, video animations, do-it-yourself testing, imaginative exhibits and inspirational messages from celebrities. The section on breathing contained good advice on stopping smoking, with a respiratory capacity test to underline the message to the 'gaspers' among the visitors. It also explained how to combat stress by deep breathing, with a message from yachtswoman, Isabelle Autissier "to learn to let your body work as nature intended".
Taking control of your health
In the diet section, the public could have their BMI and waists measured but were also advised by top chef Helene Darroze to "take the time to cook and make a break for meals to sit down at the table and share the moment". Apparently eating slowly actually makes you thinner, according to an accompanying poster, by giving your brain sufficient time to register that you've eaten.
A clever video on 'cerebral plasticity' in the mind section, demonstrates the brain's continuing ability to create new neural pathways, showing that it's perfectly possible to go on learning beyond middle age. This cutting-edge science is supported by videos of older people talking about their hobbies and passions, along with film director Robert Hossein's advice on staying young: "Attempt something, love something, take an interest in something else and always have people around you, in your projects and in your dreams."
What's more, the exhibition does what much health education avoids, pointing to the fact that changing lifestyle is not easy: 'While everything is good, it is tempting to hide in the sand like an ostrich. Screening might bring bad luck. A healthy life is boring. It's not always easy to take control of your own health.'
Major expense
This is where typical French flair and inspiration comes into play, with the message that as well as being our duty to take responsibility for our health by eating well, exercising and screening, being healthy is also enjoyable. 'By striving for harmony, seeking equilibrium and being guided by our curiosity and the pleasures of the body and the mind, health feels so good!'
Getting such an important message across doesn't come cheap. Le Train de la Vie cost everal million Euros says Gros. "The point is that a company such as Sanofi-Aventis has the strength and the funding to be able to undertake this kind of project. We were able to set up a taskforce and mobilise people inside the company. We also already have links with all the health partners, with doctors, pharmacists and scientists who were able to provide support at national level in creating the exhibition."
There were also big spin-offs, he says, in using a train to move the exhibition around. "For a start, it meant that we didn't ever have to dismantle the exhibits. We could move it from city to city during the night, getting the maximum exposure in the shortest possible time. We know from past experience that when large numbers of people are being mobilised for a project, time is important."
Positive exposure
The moving train also provided plenty of opportunities for local conferences as well as the company's positive exposure to the public. Each time the exhibition was opened to the public, the company also organised meetings with local health practitioners, thereby developing relationships and providing new support. At each stop, pharmacists were given a chance to participate in a debate on local prevention programmes. And local doctors met to formulate proposals for prevention programmes, the best of which will be funded by Sanofi-Aventis.
"We would actually have been meeting with pharmacists and doctors anyway. But the advantage of Le Train de la Vie was that we were able to organise high quality events all within a short period of time, which worked to the advantage both of ourselves and the local practitioners," says Gros.
Most of the Sanofi-Aventis staff did three day shifts on the tour. Gros stayed with the exhibition all the way, organising press conferences in 25 cities over the two months.
"It was a crazy time but very satisfying when you see the results," he says. "As a company, we normally deal with national medical and financial journalists. Le Train de la Vie gave us a unique opportunity to reach regional media and not just medical journalists but also general feature writers who were interested in covering the train as a local event."
Image battle far from won
Neither Gros nor Sanofi-Aventis is under any illusion that the battle to clean up the industry's public image has been won. It's only one step forward, he says.
"We know that there's a long way to go before the image of the pharmaceutical industry will really change for the better. But you only have to look at what we've achieved to realise that it was worthwhile.
"We've had more than 650 press reports, all of which related to the public health campaign rather than questioning the company intentions. There was tremendous public enthusiasm for the campaign and in the 'comments' book, the messages were 100% positive. There were no bitter comments about pharmaceutical interests as there have been in the past."
Whatever impact Le Train de la Vie has on the health of the French people as a whole, it does seem to have convinced health practitioners as well as the public that a pharma company is not simply interested in profit. It can also have a social conscience and play a responsible role in society.
