Silver Spring, Maryland (August 10, 2009)—Danya International, Inc. (Danya), a communications, research, and technology firm, is proud to be a sponsor at the third annual 2009 National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media in Atlanta, Ga. The 3-day conference runs August 11–13, with the theme being “Participation Powers Prevention.” Danya’s work in using video mobile phones to monitor tuberculosis (TB) medication in Africa will be presented by Janice Cunningham, who spearheaded the pilot program. The conference is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Marketing and the Office of Enterprise Communications.

The goal of this year’s conference is to promote constructive communication between participants in the conference and their constituents and the public using current research, as well as the latest in healthcare marketing and communications technologies. The conference is co-sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Public Health Information Coalition.

There will be four tracks throughout the conference, each focusing on a different facet of healthcare marketing and technology: Health Marketing: Nuts, Bolts, and Beyond; Health Disparities and Social Detriments of Health; New Frontiers—Trends and Technology; and Partnerships/Collaborations—Synergistic Relationships. Danya will be represented in Track III with a presentation entitled “Mobile Communications Can Facilitate Treatment of TB,” discussing Danya’s study of the use of video mobile phones to monitor administration of medication to TB patients in Nairobi, Kenya. The study followed 13 TB patients, their assistants, and healthcare workers over their course of treatment for 30 days. Patients and their assistants could video-record and send text with their phones, sending videos of medication administration to their healthcare workers. This technological venture replaced the often financial and physical impossibility for patients to travel to their healthcare workers.

This is the third year CDC has held this conference. Last year’s conference theme, “Engage and Deliver,” focused on using innovative health marketing techniques and current research to engage partners. In 2007, the conference’s premiere brought together individuals in academia, healthcare professionals, and public health researchers to network and discuss insights and best practices. For more information on CDC and the 2009 National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media, visit http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing/NCHCMM2009/index.htm.