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The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has released its second “get out the vote” video ad.
Titled “Momentum,” the spot calls on pharmacists and other pharmacy team members get to the polls to vote and to volunteer for the candidates of their choice. The ad points out that it’s important to hold federal and state lawmakers’ attention in order to build on increasing recognition of pharmacy’s value.
In addition, “Momentum” notes that over 60% of the U.S. House members and more than 40% of senators have co-sponsored legislation to name pharmacists as health care providers in Medicare Part B and to improve access to pharmacist-provided services for the medically underserved, through the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Access Enhancement Act (H.R. 592 and S. 314) legislation.
NACDS’ first “get out the vote” spot, a 30-second ad titled “Effective,” premiered in March during NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill, when nearly 400 pharmacy advocates met with about 90% of Congress to discuss key patient care issues. Providing a pharmacy angle to political inaction, “Effective” compared votes not cast to another wasted opportunity: doses of medication not taken as prescribed and, therefore, are unable to help the patient.
The association reported that “Effective” topped 10,000 views on YouTube in two months’ time.
“The first video emerged as a rallying cry to help take pharmacy’s grassroots and political activism to the next level. It has been great to see NACDS members, state association partners, colleges and schools of pharmacy and other allies using it to engage more pharmacy activists,” NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson said in a statement. “This second video continues to make the case that engagement in the political arena is essential for telling the story of pharmacy patient care, and for advancing a pro-patient and pro-pharmacy policy agenda.”
The video spots sport the hashtag #PharmacyVoter, which is being used in social media to foster a communitywide focus on voter engagement. The website PharmacyVoter.org also showcases the effort and provides information about how to engage politically.
The ads are part of the larger NACDS RxIMPACT Votes get-out-the-vote effort, part of NACDS’ grassroots advocacy resources under the NACDS RxIMPACT program.
