Gardasil 9 Product Pack Shot Photography
I’ve had the privilege to photograph the newly launched Gardasil 9 HPV vaccine for MSD Malaysia.
POSTs For Healthcare Category
Merck Women’s Network hi-tea at Majestic Hotel
In recognition of women’s contribution to MSD’s corporate success, a Merck Women’s Network kick-off hi-tea was held at the Colonial Cafe, Majestic Hotel. MSD genuinely believes that women matter. Women are highly-valued, high impact contributors to an organisation’s success.
Special guest, Prof Datin Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman was present to officiate the event and gave an honest but inspiring talk on the importance of women in upholding their ambitions and balancing between work and family. The Merck Women’s Network (MWN) is a forum for women to maximise their professional and personal development in accordance with the Merck Leadership Principles.
The Malaysian MWN will be the 33rd chapter to be established and it is about time, considering that MSD Malaysia’s gender ratio at the workplace is 70 (women): 30 (men). MWN members will benefit in experiencing a thriving, rewarding and impactful career, gaining invaluable and irreplaceable opportunities and experiences, achieving their full potential and lastly enjoying the company’s continued support and commitment to their development and success.
Paediatric Cardiologists of Hospital Serdang
I’ve just completed a video clip for the Paediatric Cardiologists Association of Hospital Serdang featuring the resources and facilities of Hospital Serdang as a recognised government heart centre, as I was interested in the process after I applied for my EHIC card before coming to Malaysia as an EU-national (You should apply today if you’re planning a visit – it takes a while to get approved). The video was meant to portray the progressive and highly capable team of healthcare professionals in upholding the hospital as a tertiary referral centre for the Malaysian Ministry of Health network of hospitals.
On the final day of the 3-days video shoot, I wrapped up with a group shot of the doctors. I’ve intended to shoot in an operating theatre but in the interest of time and convenience, I’ve settled for the Paediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU). I setup in one of the rooms found in PCICU.
Position of camera at doorway looking into the room. Seen here, reflected umbrella as key light and shoot thru as fill.
Third bare speed light hidden behind some bed-side apparatus at the rear, away from view.
View of the doctors looking back at the photographer’s position. Shoot thru umbrella at right (nearest camera) meant to fill right side faces of doctors (camera left). Key light on left slightly feathered.
An angular view at the camera’s position from the position of the doctors.
I used a reflected umbrella to camera right as my main key light, while a shoot-thru acted as fill. A third bare speed light lit up the white wall behind for some halo effect. The room was pretty small hence the bounced light from all speed lights acted as much-needed fill in the right places easily, without sacrificing any directional qualities in the light for shape.
After the group pic, I quickly swung around and used the wall behind me for some quick unplanned individual portraits of the doctors. I have earlier noticed some soft toys tucked away behind the PCICU nurse counter and thought that they would be a neat but unusual twist to an otherwise boring corporate portrait. I proceeded to suggest to these Paediatric Cardiologists/Senior Medical Officers to not look at the camera but instead, interact with the soft toys while I took my shot.
Pack Shot Photography for Sun Ten Pharma
It’s been awhile since I’ve done any product pack shot photography. This round, Sun Ten Pharmaceuticals called me up for a session at their office in TTDI. I had to lug all my equipment including a white acrylic surface and setup in a rather small room. Space limitations aside, it was still a manageable shoot of roughly 55 items over a full day.
As with any pack shot photography, lighting was straightforward; two speed lights shot through two large diffusing panels as my key side lighting, with a third ceiling-bounced for fill and the occasional fourth aimed at the background. It was also interesting to note the wide range of well packaged and professionally produced traditional Chinese medicine products, from herbal plasters and tea bags to tonics and wild honey.
Launch of Janumet XR in Malaysia
Improving glycaemic control for people with diabetes can be a convenient, once-a-day routine with the launch of JANUMET® XR tablets in Malaysia. Developed by MSD, one of the leading healthcare companies in Malaysia, JANUMET® XR is an oral type 2 diabetes medication that combines sitagliptin phosphate with extended-release metformin hydrocloride (HCl).
I was present at KL Hilton to cover this launch event of JANUMET® XR officiated by Prof Chan Siew Pheng and Dr Zanariah Hussein. The event lasted for about 3 hours which ended with a short Q & A session between the media and doctors.
The growing incidence of diabetes represents a major public health challenge in Malaysia. Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease that affects approximately 1.9 million people in Malaysia and 382 million people worldwide. At least 90% of all cases are type 2 diabetes in which the body is able to produce insulin but either this is not sufficient or the body is unable to respond to its effects (also known as insulin resistance), leading to a build-up of glucose in the blood.
The risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include obesity, advancing age, family history of diabetes, ethnicity, high blood glucose during pregnancy affecting unborn child, excess body weight and physical inactivity. The National and Health Morbidity Survey in 2011 (NHMS 2011) reported the national prevalence of diabetes in Malaysia as 15.2%. The increasing prevalence of diabetes is attributed to increased urbanization which is often associated with sedentary lifestyles and increased obesity.
“As Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and progressive disease, many people with diabetes will eventually require multiple medications to help control their blood sugar. Fixed-dose combination therapy will help to reduce pill burden and improve compliance,” said Prof Chan Siew Pheng, Senior Consultant Endocrinologist, at the official launch event of Janumet® XR held earlier today.
The approval of JANUMET® XR in Malaysia offers a convenient once-daily treatment option for appropriate patients who need help to improve their blood sugar level. JANUMET® XR targets three key defects of type 2 diabetes: insulin deficiency from pancreatic beta cells, insulin resistance, and overproduction of glucose by the liver. JANUMET® XR combines two medicines, sitagliptin phosphate and metformin HCI extended-release, each with demonstrated ability to improve blood sugar control without increasing the risk of hypoglycaemia.
According to Dr Zanariah Hussein, Senior Consultant Endocrinologist, who was also present during the launch event, people with diabetes will suffer from various complications such as heart disease and stroke, vision loss and blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation if left untreated.
“Managing type 2 Diabetes such as making healthy food choices, regular exercise, taking diabetes medicines exactly as doctor prescribes and monitoring blood sugar are essential steps that will keep your blood sugar level closer to normal, which can delay or prevent complications,” said Dr Zanariah. Failure to control one’s sugar level may result in hypo or hyper-glycaemia, each scenario presenting diabetes patient with life-threatening complications.