[cma-l] Fwd: Can you help?

[CMA-L]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Pennington <paulpennington at btconnect.com>

Hi

We are building up to offering an enhanced package of truly local high
quality content and expertise this Autumn for community broadcasters up and
down the country.

This forthcoming Monday the 25th of July we are piloting elements of our
enhanced editorial service and have donated our facilities and time to help
the charity 'Group Strep B Support' to raise vital awareness of this common
bacterium that can be passed from mother to baby with fatal consequences
(see below). I'm looking to see if I can reach as many stations as possible
to help with the campaign and I'd be grateful for help from fellow CMA
members.

Alongside producing an extended Word On Health radio feature for the 83
stations that broadcast our report every week - we have a prerecorded
4-minute 'dry' version of my interview with the charity's CEO on Group B
Strep that is available free of charge and is ready to air with support cue
and back announcement. For stations that want to do their own interviews,
we will be offering interview slots via ISDN/telephone/Skype from our
studio in London for any station that would like to take one from us on
Monday the 25th of July from 8am - see below for contact details.

*There's no commercial involvement or financial support from any third
party on this activity - we are donating our facilities and time to help
the charity Group  B Strep Support raise vital awareness of the preventable
life threatening infections in new born babies from Group B Strep.*

*We hope that as many stations as possible can get involved. Thanks in
advance to the CMA for distributing this information.*

*HOW INCREASED AWARENESS CAN PREVENT THE TRAGEDY OF GROUP B STEP INFECTIONS
IN NEW BORN BABIES*

According to the charity Group B Strep Support, pregnant women are not
being told about the biggest cause of life threatening infection in new
born babies and the major cause of meningitis in children under 3 months
old.  A study* conducted for Group B Strep Support revealed that fewer than
50% of pregnant  mums had heard of group B Strep, and of those, only a
third learned about it from their health professionals.

Group B Strep is a common bacterium carried by approximately one in every
four adults, usually unknowingly and without symptoms.  Normally harmless
to adults, it can be passed from mum to baby around birth with potentially
devastating consequences. Without preventative medicine, one in every 300
babies born to women carrying group B Strep will develop an infection
causing sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia.  Thankfully most babies will
recover with prompt in-patient treatment, but on average one baby dies
every week from group B Strep infection, and one baby a fortnight is left
with lifelong disability.

Testing for group B Strep – is a routine part of antenatal care in many
countries including Canada, France, Germany and the USA but not in the UK.

July is International Group B Strep Awareness Month and national charity,
Group B Strep Support, is urging pregnant mums and expectant dads to find
out about group B Strep. Jane Plumb MBE, the chief executive of Group B
Strep Support said,

“Every mother-to-be should be informed about group B Strep during routine
antenatal care and, if she wants to be tested for it in pregnancy, the
'gold standard' ECM test should be available on the NHS but sadly isn’t
offered by the majority of health trusts and in many instances has to be
sourced privately by the mum-to-be at a cost of £35.

When a woman is identified as carrying group B Strep during her pregnancy,
UK guidelines recommend she is offered intravenous antibiotics in labour to
minimise the risk of her new born baby developing infection. These targeted
antibiotics are highly effective - reducing the risk of an infection
developing in a new born baby born to a woman carrying group B Strep from
one in every 300 to less than one in 6000.”

*Jane Plumb MBE, CEO of Group B Strep Support is available for interview
via ISDN/telephone/Skype  on Monday the 25th of July from 8am onwards – to
book either a live or pre-recorded interview contact Paul Pennington or
Bernadette Moore at Word On Health 020 7272 3915 <020%207272%203915>.
Paul at wordonhealth.com <paul at wordonhealth.com>*

*Editors Notes:*

·       Group B Strep Support (www.gbss.org.uk) is the UK’s dedicated
charity to preventing life-threatening infection in new born babies,
providing information and support to families affected by group B Strep,
and their health professionals.

·       20% to 30% of women carry group B Strep, usually without harm or
symptoms. Identifying pregnant women carrying group B Strep infection and
giving them intravenous antibiotics (usually penicillin) during labour can
reduce infection in new born babies born to women with GBS by up to 90%.

·       Routine testing of all pregnant women in the UK for group B Strep
carriage is not currently recommended by the UK National Screening
Committee. Countries which routinely screen for group B Strep have seen
falls in the rate of infections in new born babies by up to 86%.

·       Even with the best medical care one in ten babies of babies sick
with group B Strep infection dies, one in twenty of the survivors of group
B Strep infection suffer long-term problems and five in ten survivors of
group B Strep meningitis suffer long-term mental and physical problems,
including cerebral palsy.

paulpennington at btconnect.com
paul at wordonhealth.com
paul at oneononetraining.co.uk
T:020 7272 3915 / 07711 181 374
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