A National Tri-Media Campaign to Promote Modern Methods of Contraception (1999-2005)

In 2000, there were 76.49 million people living in the Philippines , with the population increasing at an annual rate of 1.7 million. With an average growth rate of only 2.5 percent from 1998 to 2001, economic development proceeded at a slow phase with the number of the poor expanding to nearly 40 percent of the population.

One way to combat poverty said the Commission on Population (PopCom) is for couples to plan their families and have the number of children that they can adequately feed, shelter, and educate. The country will have a chance of reducing poverty when couples attain their aspiration to have the number of children they want.

Reachout Foundation International was awarded a grant by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to conduct a national radio and public relations campaign to promote modern methods of contraception. The campaign aims to promote the use of modern methods of contraception in the Philippines as a strategy to curb the rapid population growth, to decrease unwanted pregnancies and to promote responsible sexual behavior among adolescents.

The campaign also aims to contribute towards the improvement of reproductive health conditions of Filipinos; to move Filipinos to obtain family planning information and services from health service providers; and to encourage male responsibility and participation in reproductive health alongside women.

The radio campaign involves the production of public service announcements (PSAs) about the different modern methods of contraception. To complement this, a public relations campaign is mounted concerning family planning, reproductive health and related issues, in the form of press releases, radio interviews and television features/appearances.

The project has produced thirty-two (32) radio public service announcements (PSAs) in five Philippine languages (namely Tagalog, English, Cebuano, Ilonggo and Ilokano). The PSAs were aired in 195 radio stations nationwide. The project has released press materials and organized radio interviews and TV appearances relating to family planning and RH related issues. From 1999 to 2002, the project has generated over $13.4 million worth of free media mileage.

The project received the Global Media Award for “Excellence in Combined Media Efforts on Behalf of Population” from the Washington DC-based Population Institute in 2000. The following year, the project again garnered the Global Media Award for “Excellence in Best Commercial Advertising Campaign.”

The national surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) to assess the reach and possible impact of the radio PSAs showed that prior to the campaign, the percentage of those surveyed expressing awareness of any radio announcement on family planning was 50%. The results from the seven rounds of survey - during the intervention period - reveal that the levels of awareness remained mostly stable (between 39 and 63%). In two of the seven surveys, the extent of awareness was higher than the pre-intervention awareness level, at 55-63% versus 50%.

Across the entire survey periods (before and during the campaign), the messages recalled by the majorities of respondents (between 67 and 83% of them) were related with contraceptives. The recall of specific methods such as the pill and condom became evident and was greater after the launch of the campaign.

Pre-intervention result indicates that no one heard of a pill-related message. After seven months of the campaign, however, the figure rose from zero to 4%. With the movement of the campaign through the years, the numbers further increased to 13%, reaching 20 through 25%.

Based on their exposure to the radio ads, most of the courses of action that the respondents performed were related to contraceptive use. Before the radio campaign, the percentage of respondents who reported to have used a family planning method was 8.4. During the campaign period, the reported use of family planning methods improved ranging from 8.8 percent to 15.5 percent.

Grant received: US$ 1,200,000.00
Worth of free media space: US$ 16,800,000.00

Funding Partner: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation