Many children in rural sub-Saharan Africa lack access to diagnostic and treatment services for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea.

Health and infrastructure challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and South- East Asia are active contributors to child death.

THE GOOD NEWS:
More children are living healthier lives around the world than at any other time in history. Child mortality rates are on a steady decline, from 12 million deaths in 1990 to 7.6 million1 deaths in 2010.

THE BAD NEWS:
Nearly half of the deaths that still occur are due to diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and neonatal causes. Furthermore, under-nutrition is considered an underlying cause in almost a third of deaths of children under five.

1. 1. World Health Organization, February 2012.

Geneviève Doukoya, a 22-year-old student at the University of Maroua, Cameroon, started on the road to a healthier life four years ago when she picked up an issue of 100%Jeune, a magazine created by youth for youth, addressing sexual and reproductive health issues.

PSI focuses on the needs of the child through integrated pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria case management.

In 2010, the deaths of nearly 9 million children were attributed to these diseases. We work with local governments to implement integrated child survival programs delivered through the channels that most effectively meet the needs of the caregiver. Providing quality case management at the community level improves access to care and saves lives.

PSI believes in equal access to care for every woman, man and child regardless of income level or location.

In early February, while Chrestien Yemeni was working for PSI’s affiliate, the Cameroon Social Marketing Association (ACMS), he attended a workshop on innovation. The pressures on him were clear to see. He was repeating “yes, right away” into his mobile phone in one hand. In the other hand was a coffee cup and pulling down his shoulder, a work bag.

Five years ago, PSI was already working at a very large scale in more than 60 countries around the world. Today, we are nearly double the size. For Chrestien, in his sixth year at PSI, his workload is bigger too, and a lot more complicated.

With 40 years of experience in social marketing – and use rates for contraceptives and condoms in particular reaching increasingly high levels – PSI’s bottom line is broadening from a primary focus on increasing use to an equal emphasis on fairness and efficiency when serving those in need. These objectives can conflict, but PSI is setting out to prove that they need not as it gains experience with its own version of the total market approach.