NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, December 10, 2015

If there was still any doubt about social marketing’s ability to make a major contribution to family planning and HIV prevention, those doubts were dispelled in 2014, when 84 social marketing programs in 62 countries delivered 69 million couple years of protection (CYPs), according to the 2014 Contraceptive Social Marketing Statistics just published by DKT International. DKT says these 69 million CYPs represent an estimated 20% of all women using modern contraception in the developing world, excluding China. (A “couple year of protection” is the amount of contraception needed to protect one couple for one year).

“These are remarkable numbers and a testament to the many organizations and individuals who strive to make a wide range of health products and services available to women around the world,” said Chris Purdy, president and CEO of DKT International.

The report provides details of these 84 contraceptive social marketing programs, all of which are helping provide modern contraception and reduce unmet need for family planning among women and families in their countries, largely through the private sector.

With World AIDS Day 2015 on Dec. 1, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the important role played by condoms in HIV/AIDS prevention. In 2014, these social marketing programs sold and distributed 2.3 billion condoms, helping prevent HIV infections around the world. For World AIDS Day 2015, the AIDS community continues with the theme of “Getting to Zero” – meaning zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.

For the second consecutive year, DKT Indonesia delivered the most CYPs of any contraceptive social marketing program in world, 7.0 million, in the form of contraceptives provided through social marketing channels such as pharmacies, convenience stores, and midwife clinics. The second biggest program was the Social Marketing Company of Bangladesh, with 4.75 million.

Top 10 list in contraceptive social marketing in 2014: