SOHEL PARVEZ

Anyone of over 30 years of age might recall radio advertisements aired during their childhood and adolescence on contraceptives—Raja and Maya.

The benefits of the two birth control items were aired frequently during breaks of programmes. The relentless campaign on the necessity of the use of contraceptives to control population growth paid off.

Over time, Raja and Maya became well-known brands of contraceptives at the grassroots, though they were not welcomed initially.

Raja and Maya faced social stigma and resistance in many places, but eventually became synonymous with Bangladesh’s population growth control journey.

And this is just one of the triumphs of Social Marketing Company (SMC).

Beginning its journey in 1975 to encourage family planning and improve women’s health and wellbeing, the not-for-profit venture worked in parallel with the government to address rapid population growth in Bangladesh.

This was unique as it was carried out through engaging private sector health service providers.

However, it was not easy in the early days. Only 10 percent of the population used contraceptives when the country was initially registering rapid population growth.

Moreover, the war-ravaged country was yet to recover from the associated economic crisis.

“Family planning was a very difficult issue at that time,” said Toslim Uddin Khan, managing director and CEO of SMC, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on January 25.

“There was no television channel and communication was really difficult. In some areas, there was also resistance. In fact, many pharmacies were reluctant to keep contraceptives,” he said.

The SMC, which initially started as Family Planning Social Marketing Project (FPSMP) funded by USAID, started with innovative ways of reaching out to people.

It depended on the radio, which could reach the grassroots, for campaigns and raise awareness among people.

It also relied on mobile film programmes, which were audiovisual shows on automobiles, to reach remote rural communities. These raised awareness on health issues and advertised SMC’s products.

However, film screenings through automobiles faced resistance in some places.

SMC sold the contraceptives at subsidised prices, using funds from USAID.

“After 10 years, we found that we made progress. We were getting a response. This was basically for our innovative way of marketing, promotional campaigns, increase in literacy and financial capacity of people,” said Khan.

“We have made the products available across the country and ensured quality. We have never compromised on quality,” he said.

“If you now pop into any pharmacy, you will see five to six or even more contraceptives and other products displayed on the shelves. But this was not the situation at that time,” he said.

Building on the success of Raja and Maya, SMC afterwards began battling diarrhoea in 1985 to address a high number of deaths due to dehydration.

It started offering oral rehydration salts (ORS) even though it did not have a manufacturing facility.

“We depended on other sources,” said Khan.

The non-profit established an ORS manufacturing facility in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, and it started operations in 2004.

And over the past four decades, SMC’s ORS has become a household name in Bangladesh, helping the nation fight the diarrhoea and curbing mortality, especially of children under the age of five.

“We found the result. Within 25 years, diarrhoea, which was the number one killer, has become the seventh or eighth (in terms of claiming lives),” said Khan.

“We make 1.5 billion sachets (of ORS) annually,” said the official of the SMC, which holds an ORS market share of around 90 percent.

The SMC did not stop. It took on another mission. In its mission to improve health and hygiene of women during menstruation, the SMC launched a sanitary napkin named Joya in 2013.

Khan said it was a major health issue.

“So, we made our product available in rural areas particularly among rural women of reproductive age and made the napkin accessible,” he said.

“Now, our brand Joya is the number one popular brand in the rural community,” he said, adding that 60 percent of rural women and adolescent girls using SMC’s sanitary napkin.

“But still, we need to go far. I mean, we need to eliminate by 100 percent the risk of infection and associated complications for the use of dirty and unhygienic items during menstruation,” he added.

The SMC also expanded its portfolio to address deficiency of micronutrients, particularly among children and women, and set up a subsidiary called SMC Enterprise, a for-profit entity, to separate profitable activities from non-profitable ones.

It established a pharma division in 2017.

Khan, who joined the SMC in 2002, said the company implements its programmes through a “Star” network, namely Blue Star, Green Star, Pink and Rose Star by involving private sellers, pharmacies, obstetricians, gynaecologist, and paediatricians and female entrepreneurs.

With such efforts, the SMC accounts for a large share of the different contraceptives now in use. It accounts for 54 percent of pills, 73 percent of condoms and half of injectables.

In total, the SMC accounts for 49 percent of the modern contraceptive methods used nationally, according to the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2022.

Going forward, Khan said it aims to ensure affordable products to contribute to family planning, maternal and child health and nutrition and address the unmet needs of the country.

“You know the country has 3,500 to 4,000 deaths every year due to maternal complications. We want to change the situation,” said Khan.

Another problem that the SMC wants to tackle involves underweight newborns.

Khan said 16 out of 100 deliveries are underweight. If a baby is underweight, then there is a likelihood of the child suffering from diabetes and hypertension when he or she becomes an adult, he said.

Early marriage is another challenge.

“You think a child is coming with another child. Maternal mortality is very high in Bangladesh,” said Khan.

“We don’t want any single death. We want to change the situation of underweight babies. So, we are not yet halfway (through the journey)…Public interest is our first priority,” he said.