PSI Responds to Article on Malaria Social Marketing

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 10, 2007 — An article in The New York Times on Oct. 9 titled “Distribution of nets splits malaria fighters” was critical of making subsidized mosquito nets available through social marketing. However, it was inaccurate in several respects. Because PSI, which delivered 12.4 million nets in 2006 through social marketing and free distribution, was not contacted by the reporter, it sent the following letter to the editor of The New York Times the same day:

“Donald McNeil's piece ‘Distribution of nets splits malaria fighters’ (Oct. 9) is misleading in three respects. First, a CDC study in Kenya has shown that while free distribution has been important, two-thirds of the nets in Kenya, after the free campaign, were delivered through social marketing. Second, data presented at a recent Global Health Council conference in Washington showed that the costs of social marketing and free delivery were not significantly different. Third, and most importantly, there is no division over approaches to net delivery. As recently discussed in the Lancet journal, the malaria community stands together on a platform of rapidly achieving and sustaining equitable coverage of populations at risk of malaria using "catch up" strategies (e.g. free distribution through campaigns) as well as "keep up" strategies (e.g. sustained-access approaches including social marketing). As a result, Population Services International (PSI) implements all of these approaches as determined by country context. Your article undermines this important platform of consensus that has taken years to build.”

This letter was signed by Dr. Desmond Chavasse, PSI’s global director of malaria control based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Lancet article mentioned in the letter — “Programme diversity is key to the success of insecticide-treated bednets” — can be found here.

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