Association Camerounaise pour le Marketing Social (ACMS) is a network member of Population Services International, with programs in malaria, reproductive health, child survival, water sanitation, diarrheal and HIV prevention and treatment. ACMS promotes health products, services and healthy behaviors that enable low-income and vulnerable people to lead healthier lives. Products and services are distributed at subsidized prices rather than given away, to encourage private sector investments.
ACMS was founded in 1996 to improve reproductive health, focusing especially on HIV prevention programs. In 2004, ACMS launched its ProFam social franchise to expand access to short-acting family planning methods like — the intrauterine device (IUD) and Jadelle implants. That same year, ACMS added a malaria program that distributed Super Moustiquaire and Bloc treated nets and later long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs). ACMS has scaled up the social marketing of condoms and added other products such as the male condom Prudence Plus, and the female branded condoms Protectiv and Securité Plus.
Since 2015, the Access to Reproductive Health Services Program (PAS/SR) has been implemented. It uses an innovative social franchise strategy under the ProFam label to improve access, equity in reproductive health and child survival with the distribution of many products.
In 2016, the reproductive health portfolio was enriched by the Jeune S3 (Santé, Sexualité, Sécurité) program targeting youths, especially girls aged ten to 14 in the East and Far North regions of Cameroon.
PSI/Cameroon (ACMS) estimates that in 2015, its products and services helped avert 473,152 DALYs, including, by health area:
- 19,896 Malaria DALYs
- 193,294 HIV DALYs
- 178,566 FP DALYs
- 78,287 MNCH DALYs
- 81 WASH DALYs
- 3,027 Safe Abortion DALYs
ACMS’ family planning programs also provided 403,468 couple-years of protection.
HIV/AIDS
ACMS is developing social marketing strategies to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS and STIs among target populations. The HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Central Africa (PPSAC), aims at making both male and female condoms accessible and available, improving behaviors and practices relating to the fight against AIDS.
Since 2008, ACMS has been working with the Cameroonian Ministry of Defence to promote healthy behaviors especially those aimed at reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS within the military. The project is implemented within the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) focus regions, which are Centre, Littoral, Southwest and Northwest. The main activities are HIV testing campaigns, behavior change communication, advocacy, capacity building of stakeholders, social marketing of products, referral of positive cases and linkage to treatment, as well as the fight against discrimination and stigmatization.
In addition to promoting behavior change, ACMS distributes male and female condoms (Prudence Plus, Protectiv and Securité Plus). As part of its HIV prevention program, ACMS also organizes educational workshops and HIV/AIDS testing.
MALARIA
Since 2010, ACMS has been implementing the integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI-C) activities in the health districts of Lolodorf, Meiganga and Touboro, funded by the ExxonMobil Foundation through the Integrated Fight against Malaria Project. The activities implemented include case management at the community level by community health workers and prevention through the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) in households.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
ACMS first launched its social franchise program code named ProFam in 2004 to expand access to short-acting family planning methods. In 2016, funding from the Women’s Health Project (WHP) enabled ACMS to add long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods as well as post-abortion care into the package of services offered by providers within the network. Misoprostol for post-abortion care is provided to women with complications such as bleeding or infection due to an incomplete abortion or miscarriage. The fourth phase of the project, which began in 2016, included the prevention of unsafe abortions in addition to all the other family planning methods. In addition to the WHP, which reinforced the social franchise programs, the Program for Access to Reproductive Health Services (PAS/SR), launched in 2015, provides additional access to various birth control methods.
Post-abortion care (PAC) is also provided in ProFarm facilities with Ace-Miso for women with complications such as bleeding or infection due to an incomplete abortion or miscarriage.
The ProFam network includes 100 private clinics in three regions of the country (20 in the Northwest, 40 in the Centre, and 40 in the Littoral) that are implementing the WHP project. In addition, there are 154 private and public clinics in four regions of the country (52 in the Far North, 26 in the Adamawa, 54 in the North and 22 in the East) that are implementing the PAS/SR project.
In January 2016, ACMS began implementing the Jeune S3 (Santé, Sexualité, Sécurité) Program in the East and Far North regions. The goal is to ensure that young people (especially girls aged ten to 14 years old) and other key populations are capable and motivated to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and that their sexual and reproductive rights are respected. This will be done through advocacy, behavior change communication, and the establishment of youth-friendly spaces in Profam network facilities.
ACMS publishes a monthly magazine, 100% Jeune, in French and English focusing on youth aged 15 to 24. The magazine provides useful advice on reproductive health themes, some of which include the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, relationships between men and women, and discussing sex with parents.
WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE
ACMS promotes clean water solutions through the distribution of Aquatabs which replaced Sûr’Eau/WaterGuard. Aquatabs is used for disinfecting clear or contaminated water to prevent waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. It is currently being distributed by the PAS/SR project through medical and community networks in the project intervention area.
CHILD SURVIVAL
Super Bébé is a micronutrient for children suffering from poor nutrition. It is distributed by the PAS/SR project in the three northern regions of Cameroon (Adamawa, North and Far North) and in the East region.
ACMS is educating Cameroonians about the causes of diarrheal and waterborne diseases. This includes the promotion of the oral rehydration salt, Orasel with zinc, which was first introduced in 2009 as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF-recommended treatment regimen for children under the age of five.
Donors
- The Federal Republic of Germany through KfW Entwicklungsbank (the German Development Bank)
- PEPFAR through the U.S. Department of Defense
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
- Large anonymous donor
- Exxon Mobil
Partners
- Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cameroon
- Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Cameroon
- Ministry of Women Empowerment of the Republic of Cameroon
- Ministry of Youth of the Republic of Cameroon
- National AIDS Control Committee
- National Malaria Control Program
- OCEAC/PPSAC
- University of Yaoundé I
- University of Yaoundé II
- CAMNAFAW
- Multilateral and bilateral partners: USAID, GIZ
- UN agencies: WHO, UNFPA
- Local associations: RECAP+, SOGOG, ASFAC, ACAFEM,ACAFEJ
- Toll free line to increase and facilitate access to SRHR information by youth in fragile context
- Pratiques à Risque de la Contraception d’Urgence Traditionelle et Avortement non Sécurisé au Cameroun
Au Cameroun, 34% des femmes en âge de procréer (FAP) utilisent une méthode de contraception, mais seulement 21% utilisent une contraception moderne. - Shaping the Family Planning Market by Strengthening the Public Sector
PSI considers total market approaches to be critical for achieving universal health coverage, especially when it comes to contraception. This program brief presents cases, supported by several different donors, which take into consideration the total family planning market. - Towards Subsidized Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests. Lessons Learned from Programmes to Subsidise Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies in the Private Sector: a Review
Private sector subsidy programmes of ACTs have been effective in increasing availability of ACTs in the private sector and driving down average prices but struggled to crowd out antimalarial monotherapies. A subsidy of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in the private sector has been recommended by governments and international donors to cope with over-treatment with ACTs and to delay the emergence of resistance to artemisinin. In order to improve the cost-effectiveness of co-paid RDTs, we should build on the lessons we learned from almost 10 years of private sector subsidy programmes of ACTs in malaria-endemic countries. - Simplified Asset Indices to Measure Wealth and Equity in Health Programs: a Reliability and Validity Analysis Using Survey Data from 16 Countries
Many program implementers have difficulty collecting and analyzing data on program beneficiaries' wealth because a large number of survey questions are required to construct the standard wealth index. We created country-specific measures of household wealth with as few as 6 questions that are highly reliable and valid in both urban and rural contexts. - Improving Provider Behavior Change Communication and IPC: Best Practices from the Women’s Health Project
This brief describes the challenges faced, strategies developed, and lessons learned by the Women's Health Project. It also proposes a set of best practices for improving productivity of interpersonal communications (IPC) agents and increasing providers' skills and motivation. - Community Case Management in Cameroon
This cross-sectional study examines outcomes associated with an integrated community case management (CCM) program for malaria and diarrhea implemented in two districts in Cameroon. - CCMImpact: Lessons learned from CIDA-funded community case management programs in Cameroon, DRC, Malawi and Mali
Read about the lessons in access, quality and demand regarding case management programs in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Mali. - 8 iCCM Programs Highlight Diverse Approaches to Reduce Top Child Killers
This brief shows how PSI is exploring models to scale-up integrated community case management (iCCM) of pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria for remote populations. - PSI’s sexual and reproductive health programs for youth
This program brief provides an overview of key programs that PSI is implementing to improve the sexual and reproductive health of youth around the world.