There is nothing funny about prostate cancer. But for Dr. Richard N. Atkins, CEO of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, inspiration for promoting awareness of this
medical condition arose from a late-night funnyman.
"Ever since David Letterman started doing top 10 lists, everyone has been interested in learning through rankings," says Dr. Atkins about the NPCC's new "Prostate Cancer Report
Cards," which rates each state based on their screening rates, mortality rates, and whether they have laws guaranteeing insurance coverage for testing. "We thought pitting states
against each other in a report card system close to the time of year that school gets out for the summer would generate interest in people getting excited about how their state
ranked and what they could do to improve it."
Dr. Atkins' report card announcement created quite a stir in the public health sector: Five states (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi and Wisconsin) got failing grades;
only Connecticut scored a perfect grade of 100.
"Some public health officials in failing states reacted by wanting a full explanation behind the grade," says Dr. Atkins of the results. "Upon hearing it, many have said: 'No
wonder we failed.' Officials in Hawaii, which elected not to participate in the Center for Disease Control survey (for which the data was used), were confused in trying to
determine who should have done the survey."
Dr. Atkins can already measure some significant ROI. "Five newspapers in Alabama have written editorials endorsing the law since we sent out the report cards," he says. "We
are hopeful that at least one state, in the wake of the press outreach, will change its law (regarding insurance coverage for testing)."
From a PR perspective, Dr. Atkins has been a tireless advocate of prostate cancer awareness and testing. He's authored op-ed columns, addressed global medical conferences and
recruited prominent prostate cancer patients (such as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) to speak openly and frankly about their condition.
Yet the PR challenges facing Dr. Atkins are formidable. "Men are their worst enemy," he explains. "Any excuse is a good excuse for them not to take care of themselves let
alone advocate for themselves. Few companies want to get involved with the cause. Despite the barriers, we have been fortunate enough to have Gillette, Chrysler and
Fiji Water step forward and work with us."
Contact: Dr. Richard N. Atkins, 202.463.9455.