Page 237 - Social Marketing for Public Health Global Trends and Success Stories

57977_CH09_final.qxd:Cheng 11/5/09 4:42 PM Page 210

210 CHAPTER 9 ■ Creating a Commercial Market for Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets

(US$5 to US$7); it discouraged any ITNs/LLINs priced over US$10. At least
once a year, NetMark reviewed the pricing strategies for each brand with the
brand owner and its distributors. Distributors and retailers were generally very
price-sensitive and tried to keep their profit margin low, so they could build a
market. During the 2002–2008 period, the ITNs sold by NetMark’s commercial
partners ranged from a single “student size” bundled ITN for US$4 to an extra-
large family LLIN for US$12.
To achieve the goal of equity, NetMark replicated its model of targeted sub-
sidies. This model was developed in Zambia when NetMark saw that public-
sector subsidy programs spent a large portion of their scarce funds on procuring,
storing, and distributing ITNs through the health clinics—thus using scarce
funds for the logistics of the program and lessening the amount available for
ITNs. To some extent, these programs also undermined the growth of a com-
mercial market by taking potential customers away. NetMark devised a strategy
of giving discount vouchers to specific target audiences through the public
health system for redemption at commercial shops, thereby putting the logistics
burden on the commercial sector that already possessed the skills and infra-
structure to distribute large amounts of ITNs and manage the voucher redemp-
tion process. The public sector focused on what it did best—identifying those at
risk and providing them with malaria counseling and a voucher, while the logis-
tics of the ITNs was left to the private sector. Voucher recipients went to local
shops prestocked with a variety of ITNs by NetMark partners and selected the
size, shape, color, and price range of ITN they wanted. Almost always, families
purchased the largest ITN they could afford—not the cheapest one. The Zambia
pilot provided vouchers and counseling to pregnant women attending ante-
natal clinics and achieved a 70% redemption rate. It was replicated in other
countries, including Nigeria, where funding was obtained from ExxonMobil to
support two voucher programs. These programs distributed more than 180,000
vouchers to pregnant women and families with children under age 5, and
161,000 (89%) were redeemed for ITNs. The voucher program was well received
by all involved. Parents were able to purchase an ITN at a 50% discount; health
staff were able to provide their clients with a tangible benefit that immediately
started to reduce the number of malaria cases in their clinics; retailers were
more willing to stock ITNs, knowing that there was a nearby customer base and
soon found that voucher customers bought other items in their stores; and dis-
tributors found that vouchers made it easier to recruit local retailers and pro-
vided a reliable level of sales if they were active in stocking shops near the clinics
and promoting their brand.
NetMark was also asked by USAID and other agencies to distribute free
ITNs to very poor rural populations. Working with the commercial partners,