NHMRC’s Helping our Health campaign is drawing to a close.
The successful marketing push raised awareness of the role and value of clinical trials and was the final piece of policy work from the Expediting Clinical Trial Reform in Australia [2013-14] and Simplified and Consistent Health and Medical Research initiative [2014-15] Budget measures.
“The campaign reached an audience of over three million people and AustralianClinicalTrials.gov.au website analytics demonstrate a 250% increase in visits and a 380% increase in search for clinical trials, with almost 11,000 people subscribed to receive clinical trial alerts,” says Samantha Miles, Assistant Director Targeted Research Programs and Support at NHMRC’s Research Quality and Priorities Branch.
The campaign wrapped-up at the end of October but NHMRC will remain engaged in clinical trials from an ethics and funding perspective and will continue to maintain the Australian Clinical Trials website.
“The success of the campaign and all of our work at NHMRC could not have been achieved without enthusiastic support and input from across the sector,” says Samantha Miles. “It has been wonderful working with you all and helping to achieve something that’s really made a difference.”
The six-month campaign included social media and paid search engine advertising. It focused on emotionally rich, real life stories and featured Jarryd Roughead, Captain of the Hawthorn Football Club as an ambassador. Jarryd received immunotherapy that completed testing in clinical trials.