One in five Australians have misdiagnosed their illnesses, but stress inducing incorrect medical assumptions can be avoided with the launch of Medibank’s ‘Talk to an expert week’.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of Medibank’s 24/7 Health Advice Line that gives members with hospital cover access to help from registered nurses.

‘Talk to an expert week’ kicked off on August 26 and runs through to August 31, featuring an integrated PR, social and experiential activities, including a London style Medibank branded phone box (pictured). Also included in the campaign is a video narrated by Mia Freedman (below).

Research commissioned by Eleven PR and WHybin\TBWA Melbourne found one third of Australians claim to be too busy to visit their doctors, almost 60,000 are too embarrassed to discuss their medical issue and one in three use the internet to diagnose.

One in 10 Australians between 18 and 34 year olds turn to their Facebook friends for advice.

“Talk to an expert week’ is about raising awareness of these issues and encouraging anyone who’s feeling unwell or worried about a physical issue to see their GP or call the Medibank 24/7 Health Advice Line,” Dr Cindy Pan, medical practitioner and media personality, said.