Demand Generation Implementation Kit for Underutilized Commodities in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health

The "I-Kit" is a step-by-step guide to developing communication strategies to increase demand for the 13 under-utilised commodities identified by the United Nations (UN) Commission on Life-Saving Commodities. The commodities span across the reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) continuum of care. The Commission identified demand and utilisation as one of 10 key barriers that prevent access to and use of the commodities, suggesting the need for demand generation strategies to increase knowledge and use of these health services and products, particularly among underserved populations.

Objective of the I-Kit: "The primary objective of the I-Kit is to support country teams to develop commodity-specific messaging and activities, tailored to the country context and utilizing country-specific data, which can be integrated into existing national communication strategies and interventions for RMNCH. For countries that already have RMNCH communication plans and programs, the I-Kit can be used as a tool to integrate strategic and effective components specifically for the underutilized commodities. In countries that still need to create RMNCH communication plans, the I-Kit offers guidance and support to develop evidence-based, effective demand generation strategies."

The I-Kit was designed for: communication professionals working directly on behaviour change communication programmes; other professionals working in RMNCH who need to create a demand generation component to support programme activities; and staff from ministries of health, non-governmental organisations, and community-based organisations to develop demand generation strategies for selected health areas or commodities, as well as national landscape assessments.

I-Kit Overview

The I-Kit provides cross-cutting tools and adaptable commodity-specific content, such as audience profiles, objectives, messaging, and implementation activities, for nine priority commodities: contraceptive implants; female condoms; emergency contraception; misoprostol; magnesium sulphate; chlorhexidine; oral rehydration salts (ORS)/zinc; and amoxicillin.

Instructions for use include:

• "Start by reading the Power of Demand Generation and selected resources to find out how effective demand generation strategies can be powerful tools for improving the health status of women and children. This section provides definitions, concepts and key resources on using social and behavior change communications and social marketing techniques - demand generation techniques - to increase access to and demand for health products, services and behaviors among particular target audiences.
• The rest of the I-Kit is a step-by-step guide for developing demand generation strategies.  Divided into three stages, the I-Kit offers background information, examples, templates and carefully selected resources to guide the development of evidence-based programs.
  • Stage 1 is a National Assessment on Demand Generation. The primary purpose of the Assessment is to review existing evidence on demand generation for priority commodities, identify major evidence gaps and areas for additional analysis and propose recommendations for the development of demand generation strategies.  More information on Stage 1 can be found here. 
  • Stage 2 focuses on key components of demand generation programs. This section includes information and resources on Behavior Change Theory, upon which demand generation programs are based. Additionally, Stage 2 includes critical information, tools and resources to integrate gender considerations, utilize technology and new media and leverage public-private partnerships.  More information on Stage 2 can be found here. 
  • Stage 3 is a step-by-step guide to creating demand generation strategies for the priority commodities. Each step in Stage 3 provides guidance and adaptable content specific to the commodities, based on best available evidence from around the world, for each component of a communication strategy. The content can and should be adapted to local contexts. This section is organized into four areas based on the RMNCH continuum of care:
  • Family planning -Implant, Emergency Contraceptive Pills, Female Condom
  • Maternal health - Misoprostol, Magnesium Sulfate
  • Newborn health - Chlorhexidine
  • Child health - ORS/Zinc, Amoxicillin"

This resource is made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) is supported by USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-12-00058. HC3 is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (JHU∙CCP). The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of HC3. The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not necessarily represent the views or positions of USAID, the United States Government, or The Johns Hopkins University.