Five Psoriasis patients show the ‘Pso Positive’ side of the disease for new Novartis campaign created by Edelman Malaysia
In conjunction with World Psoriasis Day, Novartis Corporation Malaysia has launched ‘Be Pso Positive’, a psoriasis campaign created by Edelman Malaysia in collaboration with Psoriasis Association of Malaysia and True Complexion.
The campaign brings out the real-life challenges of five psoriasis patients from different walks of life, who have finally taken the brave stance of stepping out of the shadows and reveal their hidden ‘scars’, physically and emotionally through a photoshoot. The aim was to encourage the five patients to share their stories about their condition and inspire others with psoriasis to be more positive.
Psoriasis is a chronic, autoimmune disease, which affects the skin and it is estimated that about 500,000 to 800,000 Malaysians suffer from it. It appears as raised, red patches covered with silvery white build-up of dead skin cells and is often seen on the scalp, knees, elbows and lower back.
A global survey conducted by Novartis entitled ‘Clear about Psoriasis’, revealed that nearly 40 percent of psoriasis patients surveyed, suffered from a psychological condition due to their condition.
“Some people might take psoriasis lightly and think it is just another skin problem, but it is more than that. What many do not know is that many psoriasis patients suffer from an emotional aspect as well. We want them to know that there is still hope as there are many treatments out there that have shown positive results. Therefore, we want to use our ‘Be Pso Positive’ campaign as a platform to encourage psoriasis patients to be more positive about their condition and the public to be more understanding about it,” said Sheena Fong, Business Manager, Novartis Corporation Malaysia.
“Be Pso Positive campaign demonstrates how we at Edelman are constantly pushing the envelope on driving earned attention-based stories for our clients. It is the first of its kind campaign where the entire story curation, conceptualization and execution is done by the ones suffering the mental and emotional impact of their condition. The campaign is an inspiration as it aims to build acceptance for the condition and hopefully reduce the empathetic glares that follow the patients around preventing them to lead a normal life.” shared Mazuin Zin, Managing Director, Edelman Malaysia.
“It is a pleasure to be working on Novartis’ Psoriasis campaign for a third year in a row. It has been a journey trying to push the envelope every year with patients and the public at large. We believe with these Novartis campaigns, we have raised awareness among the public and we see more patients using these inspiring stories to come forward with their own. Healthcare is universal, so nobody should be left out or discriminated based on their condition,” adds Sahana Prabhakar, Director, Health at Edelman Malaysia.
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