WASHINGTON — Journalists, news outlets, online content creators, and product marketers routinely rely on stock photography when seeking the perfect pictures to accompany their stories or materials. But when it comes to images depicting use of liquid medications for children, much of what is currently available on stock photo websites is inaccurate, incorrect, and even dangerous. Now, the CHPA Educational Foundation (CHPAEF) in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) PROTECT Initiative are providing high-quality royalty-free photos that accurately depict best practices for measuring and giving liquid medicines to children.

Many stock photography websites display and offer photos showing people using a household spoon to “measure” and give over-the-counter (OTC) liquid medicines for young children rather than using the measuring tool (e.g., oral syringe or dosing cup) that comes with the medicine, or pouring a medication into a dosing device mid-air rather than measuring on a flat stable surface. These scenarios can lead to overdosing (medication toxicity) or underdosing (medication ineffectiveness) and go against the safe best practices recommended by OTC medicine manufacturers, pediatricians, and other health experts. “With the proliferation of stock imagery depicting inaccurate dosing practices available on the market, we needed a solution,” says Mary Leonard, managing director at the CHPA Educational Foundation, “so we decided that the best remedy was to produce and make alternative photos available with the same or better production quality that you get with other stock images, but ours would depict the safe and proper dosing techniques.”

After many months of planning and production, the joint effort culminated in a professional photo-shoot involving more than 30 diverse adults and children to produce new photos that conveyed the right messages. Now more than 80 studio-quality royalty-free stock photos are available to download for free from a gallery hosted by the CHPA Educational Foundation. CHPAEF will be promoting use of these photos to leading stock photo providers, CHPA member companies, federal agencies, and various healthcare- and consumer-related organizations and websites. “Now we have accurate alternatives for organizations and people to choose from when they need these types of photos,” says Leonard, “and it won’t cost them any extra money to do the right thing.”

For questions about the project, please contact Mary Leonard at [email protected].