Social Marketing for Health Program

This collaboration with PSI Mozambique contributes to two national goals: 1) to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate from 25% to 34% and 2) to increase the use of condoms during risky sex acts of males from 27% to 50%. Social marketing strategies are employed to influence behaviour of all 12 million men and women in the sexually active and reproductive age of 15-49 years, especially of 3 million men engaging in risky sex and 1.2 million women who don’t want to become pregnant but do not yet use any contraceptives. The Social Marketing-concept uses a nationwide network of wholesalers and retailers that sell different types of condoms of the brand Jeito for different prices. Promotional campaigns influence behaviour. At the end of this activity at least 81 million condoms will be sold (about 67% of all condoms sold commercially in Mozambique) and 4 million freely distributed. To improve the use of Sexual and Reproductive Health counseling and services, including family planning and safe abortion services, PSI uses a network of 400 activistas who interact with population in communities, adolescents in schools. The population can be referred to a network of TEM+ clinics, 30 of these are public facilities, and 10 are private. In public facilities SRH services are free. To ensure no one is left behind, a total market approach is employed which includes targeted subsidies for those who cannot afford to pay for condoms and SRHR services. Behaviour change information and communication through media and by ‘activistas’ and health workers is expected to lead to increased informed demand from youth, men and women for sexual and reproductive health services, counseling and commodities. In the lifetime of this activity almost 1.1 million couples will be protected by modern contraceptives. With these volumes of increased uptake of modern contraceptives and correct and consistent use of condoms, PSI projects to avoid 245,653 unplanned pregnancies, 32,199 new HIV infections and 831 maternal deaths.