AFFORD – Health Marketing Initiative

Overview

AFFORD began as a five-year (2005-2010) health marketing initiative in partnership with Futures Group International, the Malaria Consortium, Pulse Communication, Aclaim Africa and Communication for Development Foundation of Uganda and funded by USAID. With a three year extension (2011-2013), AFFORD will be led by CCP in partnership with Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) to continue to integrate health communication and social marketing techniques to address a variety of health issues and behaviors in Uganda.

Accomplishments

• In May 2008, AFFORD Inaugurated UHMG, a sustainable Ugandan organization dedicated to improving the lives of Ugandans, and nurtured its ongoing development.

• “AFFORD and UHMG have helped complement the products and services offered by the Government of Uganda through their work with the private health sector.” - Ministry of Health. Made available a range of reliable and affordable health products in the areas of HIV/AIDS and palliative care, family planning, and child survival. Supports the distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) through campaign style distribution, antenatal clinics, LLIN subsidies, and the NGO/LLIN facility.

• Through targeted product promotion, demand creation, market research, and an innovative distribution system, AFFORD met or exceeded its targets for market share, couple years of protection (CYP), and percentage of married women of reproductive age using one of its family planning methods in 2006 and 2007, as well as exceeded its targets for regular insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and LLINs distributed free to pregnant women and children under five.

• Good Life! Campaign won the AfriComNet 2008 Annual Awards for Strategic HIV/AIDS Communication in the social marketing category. The Good Life! platform promotes simple things individuals and families can do to keep healthy, linking products and practices through activities such as the Good Life! show, the “four tent model” for experiential activiation, and the Good Life! network clinics.

• HIV prevention program targets couples of reproductive age and those most-at-risk through the MARPS network, including commercial sex workers, men in uniform, truckers, fishermen and other migrant populations. Malaria programming has expanded to include orientation of private health providers and IEC materials to complement net distribution.