Welcome

2008 was a busy and fascinating year, as I worked on two projects in Pakistan, then – for the first time – went to work in Afghanistan. I soon learned that Afghan mothers and children suffer in many ways, including some of the highest death rates and shortest life expectancies in the world; really shocking!

Medical myths lead to harmful behaviors

In Afghanistan I learned that an important reason for poor health among uneducated, poor mothers and their children is that many families follow some of the same medical myths and harmful behaviors that I had encountered during my eleven years in Pakistan. You can view a profile of a girl whose life is shortened by medical myths, mistreatment and preventable harmful behaviors by downloading my powerful training tool,Reproductive Health Stairway: the Dangerous Life of a Poor, Village Girl. The Stairway has been published by World Vision and used in Pakistan and other countries.

Medical myths and harmful behaviors lead to serious illnesses and premature death for many mothers, newborns, infants and children. For example, many pregnant women believe they should eat less food during pregnancy; this contributes to the age-old problem of low birth weight babies, many of whom suffer and die during the first few months of life. And many women refuse to use an IUD (“loop”) – which is one of the most reliable and effective contraceptive methods – because they believe the loop strangles the baby in the womb, leading to an abortion. My response to these – and other – medical myths is to develop “Tell the Truth” campaigns that help uneducated mothers and fathers to know the true facts and to replace harmful behaviors with healthy behaviors. A well-designed “Tell the Truth” campaign can save many lives, especially when it is implemented through a professionally planned Behavior Change Communication campaign or as part of a Social Marketing Project.

“Tell the Truth” campaigns are an important topic of my special report,Social Marketing for Health: Did it All Begin with Condoms?This new report brings together many of the lessons that I’ve learned when I pioneered Social Marketing of Contraceptives in Sri Lanka in the 70s, followed by more lessons from other countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Yemen. This report traces the expansion of Social Marketing for Contraception into Social Marketing for Health. Then it describes a simple system for increasing birth spacing that leads to a combination of improved health for mothers, newborns and infants as well as fewer pregnancies and births. I believe you’ll discover that my Social Marketing approach, including a “Tell the Truth” component, will help you in your work, especially among uneducated mothers who may have poor nutrition, poor antenatal care, poor breastfeeding behavior or poor contraception habits. We have reason for hope: many poor mothers state that they want to space their pregnancies, but they lack the correct tools.

Why is Social Marketing so popular?

In September, 2008, when I presented my report in England about international Contraceptive Social Marketing at the first World Social Marketing Conference, I was surprised to learn that the Conference had attracted almost 1000 participants! Another indication of the growing popularity of Social Marketing is that the very usefulSocial Marketing ListServeon the Internet frequently circulates emails to almost 2000 email addresses! Little did I know that Social Marketing had become so popular! I believe this popularity is due to one fact: Social Marketing succeeds! It succeeds because it is based on solid marketing approaches including evidence: Social Marketers study the needs and desires of target groups then design and implement programs aimed at satisfying those needs and desires with effective, affordable products and services. To learn how Social Marketing has expanded over the years, and to learn details of how it succeeds, go to my special report,Social Marketing for Health: Did it All Begin with Condoms?

Do you need my assistance? Do you want more information about me?

If you need assistance with your health project or program, just click on this email address:jdavies@alephx.com. If you want to know more about my experience with Social Marketing project management, behavior change communications or my health specialties, go the right-hand column and click any Achievement buttons.

With My Best Wishes for Successful Social Marketing for Health,

John Davies

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