JEDDAH, 15 April 2003 — In a ground-breaking move, private industry has teamed up with the Ministry of Health to launch a pre- and post-natal health care education program.
“The whole program is aimed at educating the mothers-to-be, fathers and teachers,” said Ahmed Linjawy, external relations manager for Modern Products Company. “We experienced some initial reluctance from the ministry when we proposed using our communications experience to carry a message that was traditionally provided by the Ministry of Health.”
In a bold move, the Ministry of Health allowed the project to go ahead. In line with the government’s proposals that some previously government-run programs should be handled by the private sector, the program was launched. “The Saudi government realizes that the private sector has specialist skills due to the nature of our business that it simply doesn’t have,” Linjawy said.
“We have access to the mass media and the full range of agencies and commercial communications,” said Linjawy. Traditionally, the government — with its eye on using public funds responsibly — has preferred to use institutional distribution channels like individual doctors and clinics. “They are often reluctant to invest in communications because it doesn’t produce an immediately tangible result.”
Education, especially in the field of pre- and post-natal care and early childhood, is not their prime responsibility, so it has suffered from lack of investment. Cultural traditions are such that advice, however well intentioned or valid, could be seen as interference.
“Private companies, driven by the profit or loss decided by the success or failure, and therefore the effectiveness, of the campaigns, become very good at getting communications programs right,” said Linjawy.
As a profit-oriented company, the Modern Products Company will certainly benefit to an extent from its involvement. The trade-off is that the government gets effective distribution of information at little or no cost and no risk. “It’s a win-win-win situation; the message is put across effectively and children’s early health, the government and the company all benefit.”
The program is endorsed by the Ministry of Health and, since its inception, more than 85 percent of the hospitals in the Kingdom have been provided with education literature. It currently reaches 350,000 new mothers a year.
At the recent World Health Day conference, Minister of Health Osama Shubokshi commented approvingly on the father figure used in the program and the advertising. Evidence that the program is reaching fathers came from a recent survey showing that 77 percent found the material useful in their interaction with their children.
