ABPI’s Stephen Whitehead wins major communications award

Stephen Whitehead, CEO of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), has won Healthcare Communiquétor of the Year at the Communiqué Awards 2012 – an annual event to recognise excellence and best practice in healthcare communications.

The award is designed to acknowledge “outstanding personal achievement” from an individual in healthcare communications over the year, with judges commending the positive impact Whitehead has made since joining the ABPI as CEO in April, 2011.

Of particular note was Whitehead's intention to encourage a greater relationship between the industry, NHS and the Department of Health, which was the main topic of discussion during an interview with PMLiVE in November, 2011.

This has turned into tangible initiatives since then, with Whitehead implementing such projects as new regional ABPI partnership teams to be the NHS 'bridge-head' for industry, as well as co-producing new guidelines on how pharma can work with healthcare organisations.

He has also been vocal on the ongoing drug pricing debate in the UK, claiming that any system of medicine reimbursement needs to be reward innovation if pharma is to remain a viable industry in the UK.

“Stephen has come into this role after a number of years outside the industry and has approached it with an attitude that is so refreshing,” said one of the many industry figures to nominate him.

“He represents the industry with clarity and an absolute belief in what we do and is already proving to be a vocal and provocative advocate for the industry we all believe in – but most of all, for the patients we all serve.”

Whitehead's appointment at the ABPI came after an eight-year break from pharma during which time he held senior communications roles in the divisive financial and beverage industries, both of which face a similar high level of regulation and divisiveness as pharma.

He had previously served at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Eli Lilly in several communications positions at UK, European and international levels.

Other individual winners at Communiqué 2012, included Mark Flannagan, chief executive of charity Beating Bowel Cancer, who picked up Healthcare Communications Advocate and Emily Brooks of Virgo HEALTH who won Young Achiever in Healthcare Communications.

• See the full Communiqué 2012 results
• See a gallery of all the winners