Johnson & Johnson’s pharma unit Janssen is driving awareness among Black Americans of the risks for peripheral artery disease (PAD)-related amputations in the “Save Legs. Change Lives.” campaign.
According to Janssen’s press release, members of the Black community are up to four times more likely than white Americans to have a PAD-related amputation, largely due to a greater delay in care and less access to quality care.
Through this new campaign, the J&J division hopes to reach more than 10 million Black Americans over the coming years.
J&J markets blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto to reduce the risk of a sudden decrease of blood flow to the legs, major amputation, serious heart problems or stroke in PAD patients. Last year, the drug, coupled with aspirin, won an expanded FDA approval to include patients who’ve recently undergone surgery to unblock arteries in their legs because of the disease.
The grassroots effort includes several organizational partnerships with communities of color including newspaper and radio stations, Health Advocates In-Reach and Research barbershop trainings, universities, health systems and NGOs.
The initiative includes 12 programs that aim to empower individuals and communities with a higher risk of PAD, to collaborate with partners and to drive research. Team members at Janssen believe this grassroots education and screening are imperative to lowering the community’s risk of PAD-related amputations.
According to research on PAD amputations, many of the amputees did not have prior screenings such as an ankle brachial index (ABI) test, which measures blood pressure in the ankle and compares it with blood pressure in the upper arm. Therefore, Janssen has deployed a mobile unit, known as empower PAD, to cross the U.S. and provide more than 3,200 free PAD screenings.
Already, community organizations and radio stations brought together an event on the South Side of Chicago, which resulted in 750 locals getting educated about PAD and 650 screenings (92% of whom were Black). Results showed 35% of this group received a positive ABI test—the national average being 14%.
“I’m honored to be a spokesperson for Save Legs. Change Lives,” said Richard Browne, M.D., senior medical executive for health systems strategy and leader of the Cardiovascular Health Equity Advisory Council at Janssen Scientific Affairs, in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing.
“In addition to my role at Janssen, I also have a huge passion for this initiative both because of the immense opportunity to inform and help the Black community, but also given by own personal relationship to PAD.” Browne’s father-in-law passed away due to PAD: He went undiagnosed until the late stage of the disease progression, costing him his limbs and ultimately his life.
“I’ve always felt that part of the reason my father-in-law experienced such a heart-wrenching outcome was because of the color of his skin. Because he was Black, his risk of having PAD and his risk for PAD-related amputation was elevated,” Browne said.
Janssen partners for other diversity in healthcare initiatives such as Change the FIELD. Along with the American College of Cardiology Foundation, Janssen sponsored the inaugural class of this initiative, which consisted of more than 50% women, 34% Black Americans and 14% Hispanic Americans.
In addition, Janssen supports the Community Health Advocate Training Program, which empowers community health workers and other advocates to promote heart health and drive grassroots policy work and the establishment of the Cardiovascular Health Equity Advisory Council, which will convene top experts across the field of PAD to guide solution-oriented discussions that drive programs.
“In our first year, we have done so much with 12 programs currently underway. And we are just getting started,” Browne said. “In year two, we are going to continue our focus on the Black community as there is so much more support we can be providing and work to be done. Then we will follow the data and identify other communities who may be at higher risk.”
Janssen will also continue free screenings and overall education while seeking out additional partners to drive forward research that can guide clinical practice and real-world evidence to help breakdown bias.
Plus, Janssen will continually update www.savelegschangelives.com with information and resources around the initiative’s progress and outputs.
PAD affects up to 12 million Americans. There are more than 400 amputations each day in the U.S., and PAD is a leading cause. In addition, 70% of people who have a PAD-related leg amputation die within three years, and these numbers have not significantly changed over the last 20 years for Black Americans.
“Save Legs. Change Lives. is designed to bring action on multiple fronts to people and communities who are most disproportionately impacted by this often unknown and undertreated disease,” Browne said.
“While we’ve started this initiative focusing on Black Americans who are at a four times higher risk for PAD-related amputations, this is a multi-year initiative that will expand to include more communities based on PAD health equity gaps.”