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234 CHAPTER 10 ■ “Safe Water Saves Lives”

BOX 10-2 Getting the Product “P” Right in Uganda

In contrast to Madagascar, PSI Uganda found developing the right product
strategy a complex challenge. Selecting the right home water treatment
and safe storage (HWTS) product for social marketing programs in
developing countries often provides a difficult challenge. This is especially
true in countries where the local context, differing health conditions,
viability of the commercial marketplace, limited donor support, inadequate
local marketing expertise, and other factors make product selection
complex. HWTS has several competing proven treatment methods that all
provide clean drinking water if used properly. These include chlorination
(SWS), ceramic filtration, solar disinfection, and a combined
flocculent/disinfectant (CDC, 2009).
PSI Uganda launched PUR (combined flocculent/disinfectant) in
partnership with Procter & Gamble in November 2004. While the product
was ideally fitted to the turbid water in rural areas of Uganda, it required
simple but additional mixing equipment. This added cost to the product
for transport and for communication on its use. In February 2005, a
sodium hypochlorite solution (chlorine)—branded WaterGuard—was
launched and targeted to those living with HIV/AIDS as a low-cost, easy-
to-use, alternative water treatment method. WaterGuard solution was also
easy to make but heavy to transport and, therefore, also more expensive.
Finally, in December 2006, WaterGuard tablets were added to the
marketing portfolio because they had less chlorine taste and because of
the ease of use and lower cost of distribution and promotion. However,
tabs still left some chlorine aftertaste and could not take the turbidity out
of water.
Each of the HWTS products offers unique advantages and disadvan-
tages. There is no one product that meets all the product needs of the
Uganda water treatment marketplace. While on the surface it may seem
that multiple product offerings in the same marketplace may be an
inefficient use of public health resources, it is clear from the example of
Uganda that public health interests might be best served by having
multiple products available for different consumer segments or geo-
graphic areas of the marketplace. In this way, consumers are provided
with options that they select given their personal situation and their own
consumer preferences.