Tanzania Campaign Expected to Boost CYPs

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania Oct. 30, 2003 — PSI/Tanzania has launched the first phase of its modern family planning methods (MFPM) campaign, breathing new life into the stagnant promotion of family planning in Tanzania. PSI/Tanzania achieved 265,000 couple years of protection (CYPs) in 2002 and the new campaign is helping to put the program on track to reach its goal of 340,000 in 2003.

The first phase of the new campaign introduced the Mama Ushauri (Mama Advisor/Counselor) character on clinic and pharmacy posters, radio spots and print ads. Mama Ushauri is a confident, intelligent and witty mama who has the social position to advise and even joke with both men and women about MFPM. This is the start of an extensive family planning promotion campaign funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Under PSI/Tanzania's family planning program, which has been centered on the marketing of the oral contraceptive SafePlan, PSI/Tanzania is expanding into the promotion of MFPMs as part of a strategy to directly address the barriers to family planning use in Tanzania.

The two-part strategy uses Mama Ushauri to boldly address issues that people might feel uncomfortable about and to separately promote the SafePlan brand in a positive, inspirational light. These two parts allows the SafePlan brand to remain encouraging and non-offensive, and still challenge the limiting barriers of MFPM use that need to be addressed.

The issues that Mama Ushauri discusses in radio spots, print ads and on clinic and pharmacy posters are:

Misconceptions of MFPM use:
Infidelity incorrectly associated with MFPM use:
—Your wife is your wife, no one will steal her.

Infertility incorrectly associated with MFPM use:
—You will not be infertile, do not worry.

Benefits of birth spacing:
—Having children is easy. Raising them is difficult. Plan your family.

Initial results have proven positive: the Mama Ushauri Radio spots won "The Listeners Choice of the 2nd Quarter Award" and a free month of airplay on Clouds FM, a popular radio station.

During a time of flat family planning funding in Tanzania, PSI/Tanzania's MFPM campaign is one of the only new communications efforts keeping an important aspect of reproductive health in Tanzanians' eyes, ears and minds.

— Rockwell Griffen, PSI/Tanzania

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PSI/Tanzania markets SafePlan oral contraceptives as part of its modern family planning methods campaign.