Pharma considers the meaning of 'Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth'

The NPC Healthbiz Weekly is here to keep on informing you through Q2 of 2021. It's your weekly briefing on topics pertinent to healthcare marketers and executives published in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions. 

⇒ Issue #182 (In numerology, 182 represents companionship.)
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 04/23: 144,804,485*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 04/23: 3,073,868*
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 04/23: 1,164,108*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 04/23: 23,810*
⇒ Number of vaccine doses administered to Canadians as of 04/23: 11,158,636*

April 23, 2021—Good morning, CurveFlatteners. Here, on the first day of our post-Earth Day lives, it’s Mitch Shannon at the keyboard today, appearing all, you know, environmentally responsible and sustainable, like. (To mark the occasion, I’m wearing my zero-carbon flip-flops constructed from reclaimed auto tires, but you probably don’t require that particular detail.)

So, what’s the word on this Day After Earth Day? The word is “anthropause.” 

That’s the term environmentalists have applied to the decline in previous human activities during the Covid-19 disruption. Business and personal travel have been significantly reduced, as has manufacturing, deforestation, and other behaviours that add carbon emissions and result in global climate change. One result: Air pollution measured around the Great Lakes has dropped an estimated 30 per cent during the past year. 

So, it’s a tough truth to contemplate, but we might need to consider things from the perspective of our poor beaten-up ecosystem. The Covid pandemic, with its attendant loss of three million lives and incalculable economic setbacks, has been tragic for the human species. However, from the point of view of our sad, put-upon home planet, anthropause is a healing and recovery phase that is exactly what the doctor ordered. As much as we individuals may be hankering to resume our old filthy habits, there’s an astronomical object we’re riding on right now that will object to that idea. Who was it that first cautioned, “Never turn your back on Mother Earth?” It may have been Russell Mael of the band Sparks.

And that realization has implications for the Life Sciences business and those of us who toil in that effort. A recent report issued by the McKinsey consultancy prophesizes a very different “next normal” in the workplace. The report foresees jobs that have traditionally required close physical proximity in the work environment being transformed through new technologies. The very top of their list includes the categories of Medical Care and On-site Customer Interactions. That means herd immunity will not prevent an estimated 19 million workers in the USA and Canada from being uprooted. 

Furthermore, those who keep their jobs may not have the old office waiting upon their return.  The Gartner consulting group says seven out of 10 employers anticipate half their workforce will continue to work at least part of the time remotely. Commercial real estate groups are pondering what this means for their office inventory. It’s conceivable your old cubicle might be repurposed as someone else’s new condo, or a tourist's -- quel horror! -- weekend AirB&B. 

These cascading economic and societal disruptions will be daunting. However, to anthropomorphize and paraphrase Mother Earth, “Enjoy your anthropause, you ungrateful a--holes. About f---ing time!” 

The NPC Podcast is back for another season. The National Pharmaceutical Congress organizers are proud to release our new weekly podcast series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's most recent guest is Sheryl Groeneweg, Director General of the Manufacturing and Life Sciences Branch of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma

COVID CHRONICLE 04/23/2021

• Internet users are wary of so-called deep fakes, counterfeit images and videos appearing to plausibly depict real people and events. And while a fake snippet of Tom Cruise or Donald Trump might be deserving of a chuckle, there’s nothing at all funny about the emergence of counterfeit Covid vaccines. The BBC reports phoney jabs are being offered by unscrupulous parties in Mexico and Poland. The fraudsters are capitalizing on the scarcities of the vaccines and anxiety among the public. What may or may not follow a fake jab, however, is -- what else? -- a fake vaccination certificate. Those bogus credentials are an emerging problem for border security and other law-enforcement authorities. One such ersatz document was discovered at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport last week, reports CTV News. The bearer was arrested and will get to explain himself to the judge in July. You have to wonder what overlooked detail may have given away the scam. Could it be that the forger misspelled “vaxeen?”
• You say the prolonged Covid lockdown is starting to get to you? You feel you may be enduring symptoms of anxiety, depression, loneliness and post-traumatic stress? Well, now try to imagine that you’re experiencing all that for two. A new study of 6,894 subjects by Harvard University researchers reports that pregnant and postpartum women face unique difficulties during the pandemic that may put them at elevated risk of mental health challenges. The study was just published in the journal PLOS ONE. Authors Karestan Koenen and Archana Basu write: “"Our results suggest that globally, pregnant women and new moms' mental health is still another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic… There is an urgent need for maternal mental health to be fully integrated into standard prenatal and postpartum care."
• Among the marginalized communities coping with the effects of the pandemic are people who use street drugs. Researchers from Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) examined the Covid effect on that population in the current edition of the International Journal of Drug Policy. Writes lead author Dr. Farihah Ali: "People who use drugs have been negatively impacted by the pandemic in ways that put them at greater risk for experiencing substance and health-related harms, including overdoses and a decreased ability to mitigate risk behaviours." The article concludes: “These findings warrant the need for improved supports and services, as well as accessibility of safe supply programs [and] take-home naloxone kits…”

WHAT CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

More than 150 Canadian life sciences managers and executives have already registered for the Spring 2021 Webinar of the National Pharmaceutical Congress, scheduled for May 12, 2021, at 11:00 am. EST. Speakers are Brian Heath, GM of Amgen Canada, Marissa Poole, GM of Sanofi Genzyme, and Eileen McMahon of Torys LLP. Ben Parry of Pangaea Consultants is the moderator, and yours truly has the pleasure of hosting the event. Register for free here. Check out who’s attending here.

WHAT I’M READING THESE DAYS

“Every Man a King: A Short Colorful History of American Populists” by Chris Stirewalt. If the author’s name might ring a bell, it's because he was the political commentator who made headlines last fall when he called the presidential election result in Arizona for Joseph R. Biden. The problem was, his employer at the time was Fox News, the delusionally pro-Trump media outlet that somehow can’t accept the notion of physical reality in any of its forms. So, Stirewalt got the axe and has now moved on to a less-rabid conservative news medium. His book is amusing enough but light on original insights or any examination much more profound than the Wikipedia entries on Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long and bombastic businessman H. Ross Perot. For many loyal Fox News viewers, that might constitute TMI, or too much information. But for anyone with an active curiosity concerning the more colourful elements of U.S. politics, it ain’t nearly enough.

NEXT UP

Come next Monday, watch for the Skin Spectrum Weekly e-newsletter, followed by the NPC Healthbiz Weekly Tuesday. Next Wednesday brings the long-awaited return of new episodes of the NPC Podcast with Peter Brenders. Kylie Rebernik will be back with the next CurveFlattner on Thursday, April 29. That’s it. Stay in touch, stay safe, and enjoy your weekend.