2008 Aesculapius Award Recipients Announced

BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Trigeminal Neuralgia Association, Gainesville, FL, received the 2008 Aesculapius Award for websites. Winners of Aesculapius Awards were announced today by Dr. Peter G. Goldschmidt, President and Founder of the Health Improvement Institute.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Association received the top honor for their website, www.endthepain.org. This website contains comprehensive information for patients suffering with trigeminal neuralgia and related face pain, their family members, and for the medical professionals who treat them.

Winners of the Award of Excellence for health-related websites included:

• Anxiety Disorders Association of America – www.treatocd.org
• Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield – www.compassionandsupport.org
• Harlem Health Promotion Center – www.ec123.org
• International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine – www.iiam.org
• IPRO – www.YourHealthYourVoice.org
• National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center –

http://genes-r-us.uthscsa.edu

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) – www.niddk.nih.gov
• Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – www.healthfinder.gov
• Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and American College of Radiology (ACR) – www.RadiologyInfo.org
• Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital – 2 websites
  • www.texasheart.org/hic
  • www.texasheart.org/projectheart
• U.S. DHHS Office on Women’s Health – 2 websites
  • www.womenshealth.gov
  • www.girlshealth.gov

Winners of the Award of Excellence for health-related television Public Service Announcements included:

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD – Smoking Cessation Public Service Announcement: Score by Quitting (Touchdown!)
• Cable Positive, New York, NY – Join the Fight: HIV/AIDS Awareness & Prevention Campaign 2006/2007
• Harlem Health Promotion Center, New York, NY – My Life, My Decision
• National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD - After the Party (Bilingual, Spanish/English).

“People need reliable information about lifestyle and health care choices presented in an appealing way. The Aesculapius Awards are designed to promote and encourage excellence in the communication of good information about healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, and health care treatments,” said Dr. Goldschmidt. “This year’s winners continued the very high standard of creativity and quality that we have seen since the awards began. We are delighted by the wide variety of organizations that choose to submit entries this year. We congratulate the winners of awards of excellence.”

A panel of judges, representing the health care, web publishing, and multimedia fields, evaluated entries. The annual award is named for the ancient Greek god of healing, Aesculapius. This award was established by the Health Improvement Institute, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization based in Bethesda, Maryland, to promote informed consumer lifestyle choices and health care decisions.

About Health Improvement Institute:

Health Improvement Institute is a non-profit, tax exempt, 501(c)3, charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality and productivity of America’s health care. The Institute’s principal program objective is to provide information to enable people to make informed health care choices. The Institute has established expertise in evaluating the quality of health information on the Internet, conducts forms and workshops, and sponsors national awards programs to recognize excellence, including the Aesculapius Award for excellence in health communication. For more information, visit www.hii.org.

For more information about 2009 Aesculapius Award, please contact the Awards Coordinator at 301-320-0965 or by email at hii@hii.org.

SOURCE Health Improvement Institute