“We can’t possibly change medicine until we change opinions.”
~ Dr. Nathalia Holt, PhD
In 1940, Mary Woodward Lasker married Albert Lasker, a retired advertising executive. This union would change the face of medical research. Together, they launched a campaign to promote medical research. They did not just donate money to researchers. They did not just talk to politicians. They funded aggressive marketing campaigns to change public opinion.
In the 1940’s, the word “cancer” could not be mentioned on air. No one talked about it. There was a stigma attached to the diagnosis. It was a disease of the uncivilized. Very little research was being funded in the area. Even researchers did not want to be associated with the stigma. Mary Woodward Lasker was determined to change that. She convinced broadcasters to not just mention the word, but to start an ad campaign that would bring in wealthy donors. She reorganized the American Cancer Society by replacing the medical experts with advertising executives and producers. Campaigns were launched to lessen the stigma by showing that everyday people were susceptible to this disease and that everyone should get screened.
The advancement of medical science has long been dependent on public opinion and the stigma of certain diseases. While science struggles to be objective and practical, it is subjective public opinion that often determines what causes get funded and stigma that determines those that do not. When large segments of the population are dying and no one is talking about it, history has brought us people like Mary Woodward Lasker to champion the causes. They show us that science, politics, and marketing are intertwined.
While we can treat many diseases with medications or surgery, we cannot treat the stigma without changing public opinion. How many lives have been lost to stigma? How many people have been ashamed to seek care? How many diseases have not been funded? What is the story being told about a disease? Is it true? If not, how can we change the story? In this TEDx talk, Dr. Nathalia Holt tells us some of the public opinion “stories” that have been changed and how that has influenced modern medicine.