Mumbai, India, January 31st 2022: Cipla Limited is back with its fourth chapter of #BerokZindagi, its largest patient awareness initiative #InhalersHainSahi - which aims at helping people with asthma to live unstoppable lives with inhalers. The initiative focuses on creating awareness about asthma and the inherent role of inhalers in managing the disease. The campaign encourages patients to accept and adopt inhalers by eradicating the social stigma around it.. In the new chapter of the campaign, celebrities like Sonali Bendre, Satish Kaushik, Mandira Bedi and Priyanshu Painyuli have extended their support to the initiative by narrating their asthma stories. These celebrities will be seen in a series of Mythbuster films on digital platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. as they address the misconceptions about the disease and help build confidence in patient to accept inhalers.

The campaign aims to address some of the most pressing misconceptions around inhalers that continue to persist. The primary guiding insight for Asthma ke liye #InhalersHainSahi is the fact that while Inhalers constitute the right treatment for asthma, there are lot of barriers in the minds of the patients when it comes to accepting it. As a result, a large set of asthma patients are not accepting inhalers. Besides the social stigma, myths and misinformation around inhalers are some of the contributing barriers. 

India has 37.9 million cases of asthma, and despite the rising numbers, the usage of inhalers which is the most effective treatment is abysmally low1. In the current phase, the initiative is to normalise the use of inhalers in public by building confidence amongst asthmatics.

Commenting on the campaign, Dr Vikas Gupta, India Business Rx – Head, Cipla Ltd. said, “At Cipla, all our efforts are anchored towards helping patients and empowering them to make the right choice. Through our #InhalersHainSahi campaign, we want people to come forth and talk about their experiences with asthma without any fear of judgement or stigma. We believe personal stories and experiences narrated by individuals will inspire patients to get over the myths associated with the disease and various treatment options like inhalers. For us, it is very encouraging to see more and more people coming forward, narrating their personal stories and getting associated with the cause.” 

With the success of the previous campaign, there has been an ad recall of 52% and consideration of inhalers has gone up by 6%.2  The fourth chapter of this campaign continues to convey the core message that ‘Asthma ke liye Inhalers Hain Sahi’ (inhalers are right for asthma) by building awareness and educating everyone about asthma and its right treatment.

Talking on the film, Mr Akshay Gurani, CEO &Co-Founder, Schbang mentioned, "In a country where asthma is stigmatised and inhalers are looked down upon, we wanted to create awareness by driving social acceptance and adherence for inhalers. With the #InhalersHainSahi campaign our continuous effort is to inspire patients to live a life without barriers. Our success in the last three years has motivated us to address social stigma through education and we took that a step ahead by crafting a mythbuster story series this year. This video series talks about prejudices faced by asthmatics and who better than these renowned asthmatics and role models themselves to narrate their stories and push our core message - ‘Asthma Ke Liye Inhalers Hain Sahi’"

The campaign will be amplified on different digital media platforms like –YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and supported by Radio. 

Credits:

Agency: Schbang Digital Solutions
Agency Managed by: Harshil Karia, Sohil Karia & Akshay Gurnani
Production Team: Abhimanyu Balasubramanyam, Rachaita Vyas, Abhishek Mishra, Sayan Mukherjee, Jay Charola, Avinash Shukla, Feroze Dilawar, Namrata Ghaturle, Vishnu Prasad 
Creative Team: Aditya Mehendale, Jay Morzaria, Sahil Shah, Yash Ghatlia
Solutions Team: Divisha Iyer, Pranali Pawar, Hetal Bhanushali, Avantika Jain, Shreyasi Daga
CIPLA: Gaurav Kaul, Shrishail Deshnur

Reference:

Global Burden of Disease Study
1990–2016Nilsen report
Indian J Allergy Asthma Immunol 2003; 17 (2): 85 – 87, 
International Journal of Medicine and Public Health 2013; 3(2);159-162, 
Lung India 1994; 12(1); 25-26

Disclaimer: This information is only for general awareness and is not to promote, use, or endorse any product or encourage use of medicines in any way nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor for diagnosis or treatment/ cure of any medical condition. The views expressed are independent opinion based on studies from authentic sources. Your discretion may be exercised before using the information for consulting doctor. Please consult your doctor/ Registered Medical Practitioner before starting any treatment/medicine/ inhaler. This is being used only as a reference to create awareness and is NOT intended towards advertisement.