Geomarketing for Public Health

Geomarketing is a fairly basic idea. You use a variety of mapping tools in order to make the planning and implementation of marketing activities more efficient and effective. This is not a novel concept in the private sector, and many corporations have long since capitalized on their ability to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to establish and maintain far-reaching and well-stocked distribution channels (from wholesalers to distributors, and retailers). This is exactly how Starbucks makes sure you are never more than 5 minutes away from an outlet in any city or town in the US, and it's also how Coke make sure they get their product to every last village in the middle of nowhere in the developing world. If they can do it, I think we can too!

Here are some of the many ways that mapping tools could help fine-tune public health programming:

- Improve Access: We could overlay maps showing epidemiological information about disease burdens to identify pockets with, for example, higher rates of transmission of HIV, with maps showing all HIV counseling and testing centers, to identify areas with poor coverage.
- Improve Efficiency: We could overlay maps of physical terrain on maps showing available centers for malaria treatment, to ensure that resources are not being wasted on providing services in high altitude areas with lower rates of malaria.
- Increase Effectiveness: By overlaying maps with demographic information on ethnicity and census information on population density, effective behavior change messages that can be customized to local needs can be appropriately relayed through mass media, and interpersonal communication.

While significant resources will need to be invested in acquiring GIS software, PDAs and GPS equipment for researchers to relay coordinates, as well as on training and capacity building for personnel, much can be achieved once these systems are established at scale. Maps can be made public for all agencies to view, and already many easy-to-use software to do basic mapping are being designed and piloted. The key will be to ensure that these tools are customizable, so that a variety of programmatic needs can be met through the availability of a range of research, evaluation and monitoring capacities. Mapping is a way forward, and a it's time the public health world jumped ahead to keep up with efficiently using these tools to market their messages, health services and products!

Vestergaard-Frandsen: A Dream Social Enterprise?

So I'm coming up on two months post graduation from an MPH/MBA dual degree. I'm not going to lie- I've definitely had my moments where I've wondered how I was really going to put both of these degrees to full use in the time to come. As most periods of unemployment are, this has been a time of self-discovery and doubt, a tedious attempt to try to explore all the avenues I could potentially start walking down. The process has been disheartening at times- I don't always see the light, that I know is out there, at the end of the tunnel.

But a few days ago, during one of my many internet searches, I discovered an organization that has shaken me into the realization that I am indeed on the right path. Vestergaard-Frandsen is a Swiss-based, social enterprise with a unique business model- they create and provide disease control textiles to vulnerable populations during humanitarian emergencies all over the world, reinvesting a significant portion of their profits into new research and development activities. Some of their big successes have been:

• ZeroFly, a plastic sheet that acts as a long-lasting insecticide against malaria and other vector-borne diseases, while simultaneously providing shelter
• PermaNet, long-lasting insecticidal nets protecting against malaria, some with improved bioefficacy against pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors
  
• LifeStraw, a portable water filter in individual and family sizes to protect against common diarrhoel disease
  
• CarePack, a package designed to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS that includes a long-lasting insecticidal net,an instant microbiological water purifier, condoms, a broad spectrum antibiotic and printed educational materials about malaria, other vector-borne diseases, diarrhoea , and sexually transmitted diseases

So it is possible to make money AND do good- world, are you listening?!

Watch LifeStraw at work in Haiti, after the recent earthquake:



Watch CarePack launch a massive social media campaign:



Vestergaard-Frandsen has kept me up really late tonight- I can't stop thinking about the possibilities in this arena. I'm hoping there are many more of you out there, as excited as I am!!

Hilary- 1; Women's Reproductive Health- 100

I'm returning from a brief hiatus from making posts on this blog, but definitely with renewed interest. Much has transpired in the past couple of weeks, but today it became clear to me that I needed to use my blog to spread the word about a fact, that although up until now I believed was undoubtedly true, many Americans have been questioning- reproductive health does in fact include access to family planning and abortion services. Wow--that is genius! Should I be surprised that it took Hilary Clinton to confirm this?

Watch her give a passionate, spur-of-the-moment response on the subject as the House of Representatives moved to end all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.



We need more women to stand up for this cause and do like she did. She took 1 hit for the 100's of American women who deserve to receive affordable, high-quality and easy access to reproductive health care- yes, contraception and abortion included!