| Abstract: | In Egypt, as in many other countries throughout the world, diarrhea is the number 1 killer of children under 2. The recent medical miracle responsible for battling diarrhea is nothing more than a simple solution of salts, sugar and water, commonly known as oral rehydration solution (ORS). In Egypt, the use of ORS saved an estimated 130,000 infants over a brief period of 2 years, and since 1980, deaths associated with diarrhea have been reduced by nearly 2/3 for children under 2. However, the lives saved in Egypt would not have been possible if mothers, pharmacists, doctors and nurses had not known about ORS and had not used the solution in the proper way at the proper time. The process of education Egyptians about ORS occurred due to the adaptation of commercial marketing methods for socially beneficial ends. The National Control of Diarrehal Diseases Project has managed to get the message out to mothers and medical professionals through a carefully planned communications strategy involving the coordinated use of mass media, market research, and evaluation; and relying on a multiplicity of channels that encompassed the Ministry of Health, medical professionals, the private sector and foreign technical assistants. This article outlines the ways in which social marketing was used to make this project a success. |
