Bethesda, Maryland (December 20, 2002) — Bonneville Communications received the 2002 Aesculapius Award for excellence in television PSAs (Public Service Announcements), Epilepsy Foundation received the 2002 Aesculapius Award for excellence in radio PSAs, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, received the 2002 Aesculapius Award for excellence in websites. The 2002 Aesculapius Award winners were announced today by Dr. Peter G. Goldschmidt, President and Founder of the Health Improvement Institute.

Bonneville Communications, Salt Lake City, UT, received the top honor for their television PSA, entitled Dad’s Horses, produced for Huntsman Cancer Institute. Targeted towards the loved ones of cancer sufferers, the PSA was developed to increase awareness of the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s cancer information resources.

Epilepsy Foundation, Landover, MD, received the top honor for their radio PSA, Entitled to Respect, produced by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Targeted towards teenagers (ages 13-19 years) who do not have epilepsy, the PSA was developed with the message that everyone is entitled to respect.

Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls, The National Bone Health Campaign website developed and maintained by Porter Novelli, under contract with the DHHS Office of Women’s Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, received the top honor for www.cdc.gov/powerfulbones. Targeted towards young girls (ages 9-12 years), the website was designed to motivate preteen girls to adopt bone-healthy behaviors (adequate calcium consumption, weight-bearing physical activity, etc).

Winners of the Award of Excellence for television PSAs included:

• American Institute for Cancer Research – "The New American Plate"
• Robert Marston and Associates – "M.A.S.H."
  

Winners of the Award of Excellence for radio PSAs included:

• National Headache Foundation – "3 R's of Migraine Management"
• National Institute on Aging – "Ejercicio: Ideal A Toda Edad (Church)"
• National Institute on Aging – "Ejercicio: Ideal A Toda Edad (Don Jose)"
• National Stroke Association – "Don’t Blow Your Mind"
  

Winners of the Award of Excellence for health-related WWW sites included:

• Consumer Health Interactive – www.bluecrossmn.com/blueprint
• GMMB – www.coveringtheuninsured.org
• National Cancer Institute – www.cancer.gov
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov
• North American Menopause Society – www.menopause.org
• Rodale, Inc. – www.prevention.com
• Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer, Inc. (SPOHNC) – www.spohnc.org
  

A panel of judges, representing the health care, television and multimedia fields, evaluated entries. "Many of this year’s entries were impressive," said Dr. Peter Goldschmidt. "Judges were impressed with the quality of production and content. We hope that the awards will encourage excellence in communicating health information to the public, and that consumers will find them a useful guide." We urge World Wide Web sites to enter the competition each year to show the public that they continue to meet standards of excellence." Consumers can now find Aesculapius Award winners, and a list of judges, on the Institute’s web site — http://www.hii.org.

The annual award is named for the ancient Greek God of healing, Aesculapius. This year marks the eleventh year of the annual awards competition. This award was established by the Health Improvement Institute, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization based in Bethesda, Maryland, to promote excellence in informing consumer lifestyle choices and health care decisions.

The Institute is accepting entries for the 2003 Aesculapius Awards. For more information or to obtain entry form, please write to:

Health Improvement Institute 5272 River Road, Suite 650 Bethesda, MD 20816

Telephone: 301-652-1818 Fax: 301-652-1250 Email: hii@mcman.com