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KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, in collaboration with the breast cancer advocacy community and Emmy-nominated actress, Yvonne Orji, launched a new initiative, Uncovering TNBC, to shed light on the unique challenges Black women face when diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Non-Hispanic Black women are approximately two times more likely to have TNBC than non-Hispanic white women, and compared to white women, Black women are more likely to die of the disease. Join Yvonne as she speaks with Sharon, Tiah and Damesha, three women diagnosed with TNBC, who share their stories of triumphs while also discussing the health disparities Black women can face. Through the web docuseries and educational materials, Uncovering TNBC aims to inform Black women and empower them to advocate for themselves with their health care team.

With a masters degree in public health and a nurse for a mother, Yvonne has been passionate about closing the health care equity gap since before she became a TV star.

I know firsthand how important it is for Black women to take charge of their health and advocate for themselves. Data shows women in our community have a higher chance of developing TNBC, but we can take steps to help protect ourselves and our families, said Yvonne. I hope these stories uplift women with TNBC and inspire them to get the care they need.

The centerpiece of the Uncovering TNBC campaign is a three-episode web docuseries that highlights the challenges Black women with TNBC can face throughout their cancer journeys. Hosted by Yvonne, the docuseries spotlights three brave warriors and their experiences with TNBC: Damesha from North Carolina, Sharon from Virginia and Tiah from Georgia. The series aims to amplify the stories of Black women with TNBC and offers resources that will help others understand their risks and advocate for themselves. The initiative also includes a webpage of educational information for women who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with TNBC and their loved ones.

There is no shortage of breast cancer resources, yet so few are developed with the unique needs of Black women in mind, said Maimah Karmo, founder and CEO, Tigerlily Foundation. As a native of Liberia myself, I am proud to collaborate with Merck and Ms. Orji to support the tireless efforts to meet that need and further bridge the gap to care.

Were honored to collaborate with advocacy organizations who have been at the forefront of fighting for heath equity in the breast cancer community on this important campaign, said Jill DeSimone, president, U.S. Oncology, Merck. For Black women with TNBC, optimal care is about more than just treating cancer: Its about being understood and supported. Uncovering TNBC is an important program that is part of our broader efforts at Merck to help advance health equity for all people with cancer.

About Uncovering TNBC

In collaboration with Susan G. Komen, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Tigerlily Foundation, and Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, Uncovering TNBC was developed specifically for Black women, who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC accounts for about 10-15% of all breast cancers and is an aggressive type of cancer that is often difficult to treat. Black women who have a higher chance of developing or are newly diagnosed with TNBC can face unique disparities, including inadequate breast cancer screening, lack of access to treatment and less access to preventive and educational information.

Uncovering TNBC offers strategies to help address the barriers Black women can face in their journey. Through culturally relevant, educational and solution-oriented content, the program aims to support patients from diagnosis to survivorship. Information and resources can be found on UncoverTNBC.com.

About Yvonne Orji

Yvonne Orji is a Nigerian-American Emmy-nominated actress, comedian and writer who continues to display her versatility and passion with each project she takes on. In addition to her starring role in the critically acclaimed HBO comedy series, Insecure, she is a distinguished stand-up comedian, feature film star, podcast host and published author.

Outside of her creative work, Yvonne is dedicated to her charitable efforts. In 2008, she spent six months working in post-conflict Liberia with Population Services International (PSI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that uses social marketing to promote health behaviors. While in Liberia, she worked with a group of talented youth to help build a mentoring program and a weekly talk show that helped educate and prevent teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.

Yvonne has brought her work with the youth community back to the States, where she is now involved with (RED) campaigns and faith-based youth ministries.

About Merck

For over 130 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the worlds most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit http://www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the company) includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the companys management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the companys ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the companys patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the companys 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the companys other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SECs Internet site (www.sec.gov).

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Merck and Emmy-Nominated Actress Yvonne Orji Unveil Uncovering TNBC, Highlighting the Challenges Faced by Black Women Diagnosed with Triple-Negative...

As TikTok continues to grow, and add more users over time, its also working to refine its ad offerings, and attract more investment in its promotional tools.

And it seems, based on this research at least, that TikTok campaigns are generating results, with Kantars latest Media Reactions study showing that TikTok is the preferred advertising environment for both brands and their audiences, while brand-building campaigns on the platform are 7x more impactful among people with high ad equity.

Kantars 2021 Media Reactions report incorporates responses from over 14,500 consumers and 900 senior marketers around the world, providing a broad scope of opinion around key ad shifts and trends. The main focus elements of Kantars report are:

Based on these elements, Kantar found TikTok ads, in particular, to be effective on several fronts.

As explained by TikTok:

TikTok's ad equity has been ranked #1 in the world two years running because of our creative, authentic community and brand-friendly platform. Reaching consumers in an environment built for discovery gives businesses the power to build great ad experiences - and offers audiences the chance to discover compelling, fun content.

Among the studys findings, Kantars research indicates that the collaborative atmosphere of TikTok leads to less intrusive, and more creative ad campaigns. That aligns with TikToks Make TikToks, Not Ads approach, which calls on marketers to really learn the platform, and its key trends, and align with how users are engaging, as opposed to taking a more disruptive, traditional marketing approach.

TikTok ads also scored higher for delivering relevance and usefulnessthan they did in the previous years report, while it also beat all others in sentiment according to household decision-makers, in almost every vertical.

In some ways, TikTok likely benefits from being the new kid on the block, with consumers more open to TikTok promotions due to overall usage trends. But really, the main note here is that brands have quickly learned that traditional ad approaches simply dont work on the platform you cant just repurpose your campaigns from other platforms and mediums and expect TikTok users to pay attention.

If you want to stop people swiping on by, you need to make TikTok ads that feel natural in user feeds, and that broader push has made advertisers conform to the apps general content principles, which is why its ads feel less intrusive than, say, pre or mid-roll disruptions on other platforms.

In aligning with these findings, TikTok recommends that advertisers:

These are some good tips, with the basic ethos, again, being Make TikToks, Not Ads.

If youre not sure exactly how to do that, you can check out TikToks Ad Library, which highlights some great examples of effective TikTok clips, while its also recently launched a new Creative Center to showcase more top-performing campaigns.

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New Report Finds Users are More Open to TikTok's Innovative, Creative Ad Options - Social Media Today

United Arab Emirates has launched its 6th edition of Global Business Forum Africa (GBF Africa) that aims at scaling-up and strengthening multifaceted business with Africa. With its first class Emirates airline, the airline network will facilitate the participation in the forum of African leaders and corporate business leaders.

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, GBF Africa is bringing the trade and investment community back together to explore bilateral trade opportunities between Dubai and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Now in its 6th edition, Global Business Forum Africa facilitates international revenue flows by engaging leading decision-makers on the global investment scene. Influential stakeholders participate in constructive dialogue at the highest level, focusing on key economic developments and investment opportunities emerging across the continent.

This forum among other key objectives aims to build bridges between UAE and African business communities and explore untapped trade and investment potential. It represents an unprecedented opportunity for businesses of all sizes, international organizations and government entities from across the world, to come together to foster a more diversified and resilient global economy, inspire a vibrant business environment and drive sustainable growth.

Besides Africa, it has the Global Business Forum ASEAN established as a platform for insightful dialogue between government and business leaders in the UAE and ASEAN by identifying opportunities for mutual growth. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is set to re-shape global connectivity and add US$186 billion to global GDP by 2030.

It further launched in 2016, Global Business Forum Latin America that seeks to pave the way for long-lasting partnerships between business communities in the GCC, Latin America and Caribbean (LAC). The forum explores existing trade synergies and bilateral business opportunities, while strengthening Dubais position as a gateway for Latin American companies.

As expected, Heads of State, more than 30 Ministers, high-ranking Government officials and prominent influential business leaders from Africa have confirmed their participation for the sixth edition of the Global Business Forum Africa (GBF Africa), which takes place on October 13-14, 2021 at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Dubai Chamber is organizing GBF Africa 2021 in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai under the theme Transformation Through Trade and the event will be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The organizers have listed top-level participants including H.E. Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique; H.E. Felix Tshisekedi, President of Congo; H.E. Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga, Vice President of Zimbabwe; the Chief Minister of Jersey; the Secretary General of COMESA; more than 30 ministers and high-ranking African officials, including ministers from Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda Zimbabwe and Liberia, Kenya, Botswana, Cte dIvoire, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho, as well as government officials from Rwanda and Kenya.

H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, said: Countries from across the world that are participating in Expo 2020 are eager to widen and deepen their ties with Africa, and GBF Africa will be a crucial forum where the continent can share its plans and achievements, seek investments and solutions to its challenges and forge new relationships across the globe.

H.E. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO of Dubai Chamber, said: The success that GBF Africa has had in attracting African presidents, ministers and influential leaders to join its high-level talks reflects the forums position as a leading global platform for exploring investment opportunities in the African continent. It reinforces the crucial role played by Dubais wise leadership in expanding the emirates trade links with emerging markets around the world.

According to Buamim, the Dubai Chamber is keen to continue its efforts to promote building strategic partnerships with the key players in the African business ecosystem. The Chamber is also committed to encouraging and supporting local and national companies to invest in African markets and enhance sustainable economic growth and development.

Ambareen Musa, Founder and CEO of Souqual in the UAE said: As we grow and scale-up in the Middle East, this gives us a lot of exposure for potentially getting into Africa as a region.

Through its network of international representative offices, trade missions and high-profile business forums, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry works to raise Dubais profile as a global trade and investment hub. The Chamber represents more than 260,000 companies, making it one of the worlds largest membership-based Chambers of Commerce.

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Instagram: Why It Is the Best Social Media Platform for Marketing - Modern Diplomacy

The ad also includes a CGI recreation of an actual 2012 event, when aTundra hauledspace shuttle Endeavor to its final resting spot in the California Science Center. There is even a nod to the Back to the Future film franchise in which Marty McFly drove a 1985 Toyota pickup. The ad shows a quick glimpse of a 1985 Tacoma SR5 with a MCFLY license plate.

Schragger describes the ad as showing the new Tundra creating this big dust storm filled with the soul of its pastthe souls of all the trucks of Toyota went into building the new Toyota. He adds: We wanted it to feel almost like a movie trailer rather than just some advertising.

The Tundra will hit dealers in late November/early December, with the full campaign kicking into gear in 2022, according to Toyota. Materazzo says the automaker will rely on all its agency partners, includingConill and Burrell, which target multicultural audiences.

With the campaign, Toyota is trying to win attention in a full-size truck segment dominated by the Detroit 3. As recently reported by Automotive News, in the first six months of this year, the Ford F-Series led with sales of 362,082 vehicles, followed by Ram pickups (313,068), the Chevrolet Silverado (286,410) and the GMC Sierra (138,412). The Tundra was fifth at 43,865 vehicles.

The new Tundra will have its in-person coming out party at the Motor Bella, an outdoor event set for Sept. 21-26 in Pontiac, a suburb about a half-hour drivenorth of Detroit. It marks the first auto show in the region since COVID-19 scuttled the 2020 North American International Auto Show.

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Watch Toyota's big-budget Tundra ad that recalls the 'truck souls' of its past - AdAge.com

Ireland has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. With just 37 per cent of mothers breastfeeding on discharge from hospital, baby formula sales are booming. But is the advertising of this product here sufficiently regulated? Some campaigners think not.

Irelands lax adoption of advertising codes to curb the marketing of breast milk substitutes is normalising formula feeding and misleading parents, says Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland (BFLGI). Members include individuals and breastfeeding support organisations Cuidiu, La Leche League and Friends of Breastfeeding.

Our big concern is there are a lot of unethical marketing practices and what we would consider to be predatory marketing practices, says BFLGI member Liz OSullivan, a dietician, lecturer in nutrition and mother of two. Even where there is legislation to protect families, it is really poorly enforced.

The legislation OSullivan refers to is based on the WHOs International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Introduced 40 years ago this year, it was designed to stop commercial interests from undermining breastfeeding. Unicef describes the code as a response to infant-feeding industry marketing activities that were promoting formula feeding over breastfeeding, in turn leading to dramatic increases in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.

The health of babies was too important for the usual market rules to apply. The codeasked all governments to legislate to prevent commercial interests from damaging breastfeeding and the health of their populations.

The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. Breastfed children have a lower incidence and severity of many illnesses, including respiratory and urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis, diabetes, and childhood cancers, according to aLancet report, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century (2016). In mothers, breastfeeding was found to help prevent breast cancer and reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and diabetes. The WHOs website says breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, too.

Separately, a long-term study in Brazil, published in Lancet Global Health in 2015, traced nearly 3,500 babies from all walks of life and found that those breastfed for longer scored higher in IQ tests as adults. Many other factors contribute to IQ, researchers and critics stressed, but their study did try to rule out the main ones such as the mothers education, family income and birth weight.

A majority of countries, including Ireland, have enacted legislation to implement at least some of the code to help safeguard the benefits of breastfeeding. In its most recent analysis of legal measures in place, the WHO, Unicef and the International Baby Food Action Network found that 25 countries scored 75 or above out of 100 and were considered substantially aligned with the Code. Irelands score, however, was just 39. BFLGI wants to see a greater adoption of the code in Ireland to restrict how baby formula is advertised.

There are few products whose packaging is required by law to tell you the alternative to buying them is actually better. Cigarettes and alcohol spring to mind, and infant formula is also one of them. Pick up any brand and it is required by law to say breast milk is better. Formula companies must state the superiority of breast milk on all of their marketing materials, which they duly do.

However as the free alternative of breast milk reduces market share, their marketing strategies, curtailed by the code, have become fairly inventive.

The code is strongest in relation to newborns. In Ireland, companies cant actively market formula for babies up to six months but are adept at getting around it, says OSullivan. They bolster brand awareness by heavily promoting similar products such as follow-on milks.

You are not allowed to have promotions or offers on stage one infant formula, but any ads you have for your stage-two formula are nearly advertising your stage-one by default because the product looks exactly the same. The only difference is the number, OSullivan says.

According to Gerard Hastings, emeritus professor of social marketing at the University of Stirling, while companies are prohibited legally from communicating about first milk, their tack is to promote baby milk formula as the best thing after maternal milk. His research, Selling second best: how infant formula marketing works, published in Globalization and Health, includes interviews with former baby milk formula industry marketers.

The formula companies are adept at creating a brand affinity without mentioning a product, one marketer says. When [corporation name] market infant formula, they do need to tiptoe a bit around stuff before 12 months, but they still do all sorts of things. They dont talk about product at all, its like, Call our advice line, Join our baby club, no mention of a product, so you can market without talking about a product. This approach gets around regulation and makes enforcement difficult.

Building long-term relationships with mothers through baby clubs and care lines is a way to reach them without breaking the code. In his research, Hastings quotes one marketer saying a particular formula company was always on a quest to identify women who are pregnant for the first timebecause how a woman feeds her baby is how she is likely to feed her subsequent babiesfirst-time mothers are the holy grail.

Technology and analytics is supercharging these efforts. Tell the company your babys due date when signing up to their baby club and you will receive emails timed to your stage of pregnancy.

The labelling of formula is covered by the code too. Packaging cant include pictures of infants or other pictures or text which may idealise the use of the product, it says. But the enforcement of this, is problematic, says OSullivan.

If you look at the products, they have teddy bears, a picture of a cot, a mammy goat and a baby goat. One logo has a love heart on it, another looks like a mum holding a baby, another has a shield. All of these things look like they are idealising the product, but the Food Safety Authority of Ireland says they are not..

The end goal of our group is to change legislation, she says. Whereas now we restrict the promotion of products to babies up to six months, we would love to see that up to 36 months. But even if Irelands adoption of the code is expanded, it wont be enough, she says. Its the monitoring and enforcement that really need to be fixed.

Still, if the benefits of breastfeeding are so compelling, why do so many Irish parents find themselves in the supermarket formula aisle? To be fair to formula companies, it cant all be down to their advertising. They see themselves as providing parents information about feeding options and offering choice.

The fact is, Irelands low breastfeeding rates are out of whack. Nationally, 63.8 per cent of women here initiate breastfeeding at their babys first feed. This compares with rates of 90 per cent in Australia, 81 per cent in the UK and 79 per cent in the US, according to the Irish Maternity Indicator System 2019 national report. On discharge, just 37.3 per cent of mothers here are breastfeeding.

Separate research as part of the ESRIs Growing Up in Ireland study (2014) asks mothers who did not initiate breastfeeding why. Almost 49 per cent said formula feeding was preferable(though the statistic does not shed light on why it was perceived as preferable). Some 17 per cent cited inconvenience/fatigue and a further 18 per cent cited reasons including difficulty with breastfeeding techniques, soreness, not enough milk and problems feeding a previous baby.

While the HSE has an Infant Feeding Policy for hospitals and community health professionals, as well as the mychild.ie website for parents, campaigners say support for breastfeeding is underfunded and voluntary breastfeeding groups run by mothers are left to fill the gaps.

There are just 20.5 dedicated lactation consultant posts across Irelands maternity hospitals and units, with another 10 operating in the community. This is in a country that recorded 55,959 births in 2020. With more than 8,000 births a year, the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street in Dublin has just two full-time and two part-time lactation consultants. Recruitment for 24 more lactation consultant posts is due to start this year, the HSE says.

For broadcaster, UCDlecturer and mother of two Aoibhinn N Shilleabhin, the feeding of Irish babies is being left up to the market. By not adequately supporting mothers who want to breastfeed, she says, we are providing a steady supply of customers to a multimillion-euro industry.

N Shilleabhin became interested in the topic when, on the birth of her second child last year, she became part of a new health area after moving house: All of a sudden I had access to a public lactation consultant. Her child was born with a tongue tie and a toot, and this support, though online during the pandemic, made all the difference.

With regard to breastfeeding her first baby, who was also born with a tongue tie, N Shilleabhin says shewas ready to give up on day four. That time, a visit from a public health nurse experienced in breastfeeding, enabled her to continue to breastfeed exclusively for six months.

When mothers, in particular first-time mothers, dont get timely support in their areafor often fixable issues, breastfeeding can come to a painful and sometimes traumatic and guilt-ridden halt.

Between women unsupported to breastfeed and insufficient regulation on how formula is advertised, formula companies have inordinate influence in how babies are fed, according to N Shilleabhin. My point is that we really shouldnt be leaving it up to private industry, whose bottom line is profit, to tell you what the best thing is for your child.

The argument is not breast versus bottle, she adds.We absolutely need formula; some women cant breastfeed, some dont want to breastfeed. There are very many reasons we need formula, we just dont need it advertised so blatantly.

OSullivan agrees. For me its nothing to do with individual parents who use formula, its the stealth of the marketing. I have the biggest problem when someone wants to breastfeed, but doesnt get the advice and support they need or gets undermined by marketing which says its time to move on from breastfeeding.

Sabina Higgins, wife of president Michael D Higgins added her voice to the debate in August. At an event to promote breastfeeding, she called Ireland a pathetically low place when it comes to the number of children being breastfed. She said neglecting public awareness of the importance of breastfeeding was irresponsible, while the aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes by commercial interests continues to undermine breastfeeding.

When it comes to Irelands relationship to baby formula, it really is complicated. Three of the largest producers of infant formula in the world, Danone(which produces Cow & Gate and Aptamil), Abbott and Wyeth have manufacturing facilities in Ireland, sourcing milk supplies directly from Irish dairy processors. Irish nutritional powder exports, which includes infant formula, are valued at 929 million, according to Bord Bia figures. The body even titled a 2018 infant formula branding drive Billion Dollar Baby.

We have a big infant formula culture here because we produce so much of it, says OSullivan. We have a massive conflict between the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture. Changing the code may ultimately be a problem of political will.

National Breastfeeding Week is October 1st-7th.On October 4th the National Womens Council of Ireland, in partnership with Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland (BFLGI) will host a public webinar on the need to provide greater choice and supports to women around breastfeeding. See eventbrite.ie/e/feeding-the-future-shared-responsibility-tickets-171998781987 *

* This article was amended on September 18th, 2021

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Aoibhinn N Shilleabhin: We shouldnt leave it to industry to say whats best for your child - The Irish Times