Tanzania Marketing and Communications Project (T-MARC)
PAST PROJECT
The Tanzania Marketing and Communications for AIDS, Reproductive Health, Child Survival and Infectious Diseases (T-MARC) project was a six-year (2004–2010), $23 million, USAID Private Sector Program (PSP) initiative. T-MARC's mission is to contribute to improvements in the health status of Tanzanian families and reduce the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS. T-MARC is forming public-partnerships that will develop and expand consumer markets for a broad range of health products (e.g., condoms, contraceptives, diarrhea treatment products, malaria prevention and treatment products, etc) and promote behavior change that will improve public health.
The primary objectives of the T-MARC project were:
- To improve key populations' access to affordable health products related to HIV/AIDS prevention and care, family planning/reproductive health, child survival, and infectious diseases. In partnership with commercial partners the project supported, developed or launched new and existing products—new male condom, female condom, and oral contraceptive brands, and cost-effectively built on existing marketing, sales, and distribution networks.
- Develop and manage a broad-based communications initiative that enhances the knowledge of Tanzanians about core issues related to HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, child survival, and infectious diseases, including accurate information about relevant products and services as well as persuasive information to encourage and sustain healthy behaviors.
- Establish and maintain practical partnerships with commercial, non-governmental and/or faith-based organizations for key roles in the ongoing management and implementation of the project.
- Work closely and purposefully with other organizations and agencies engaged in similar programmatic areas to address issues of coverage and consistency related to the distribution of dependable products and the dissemination of accurate information.
Strategy
T-MARC employed AED’s Full Market Impact™ (FMI™) model—a "total market approach" that involves multiple partners from the private commercial sector, NGOs, and the public sector in a comprehensive effort to decrease risky behaviors and increase preventive health behaviors, and generate/fulfill demand for an affordable and accessible range of preventive health products. This approach ensures alignment with USAID's strategic objectives, T-MARC project objectives, and the T-MARC Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP).
Local Partnerships
On April 1, 2007, the independent Tanzanian-led and controlled Tanzania Marketing and Communications (T-MARC) Company Ltd. took over implementation of the T-MARC project under AED’s supervision. AED's relationship with the new T-MARC Company fulfills in part the third objective of the T-MARC project: to establish and maintain practical partnerships with Tanzanian organizations for key roles in the ongoing management and implementation of the project.
T-MARC teamed with civil society organizations, including nongovernmental, community-based, and faith-based organizations to achieve program objectives and advance public health. Specifically, these partnerships implemented behavior change interventions that promoted monogamy/faithfulness and condom use among communities at higher risk of HIV infection.
T-MARC partnered with Tanzania's nascent, but growing, commercial sector. T-MARC established an expanding partnership with one of the largest and most successful conglomerates in East Africa, the Sumaria Group, specifically with its subsidiaries Shelys Pharmaceuticals, which produces and markets ethical pharmaceutical products, and its sister company Beta Healthcare Group, which markets over-the-counter health products. Consistent with the mission of T-MARC, Shelys and Beta Healthcare strive to serve the broad, low-income Tanzanian market with affordable, quality health products. Shelys and Beta products are leaders in their categories due to their affordability, strong distribution, and vigorous marketing. T-MARC, Shelys, and Beta in marketing three subsidized products: Dume brand male condoms, Lady Pepeta brand female condoms, and Flexi P brand oral contraceptives. Shelys also opened a new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, which produces and markets artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) for malaria, new formula (low-osmolarity) oral rehydration salts, and dispersible zinc tablets for diarrhea treatment, with T-MARC and POUZN support.
News, Publications, and Results
News
- AED Teams up with TACAIDs to Host Workshop for Developing Behavior Change Communication Guidelines for HIV Prevention (July 2010)
- T-MARC Workshop Examines How to Change Health Behaviors Related to Alcohol Abuse and HIV Risk (June 2010)
- T-MARC Pilots a Sustainable CBD Model (April 2010)
Publications
- T-MARC Project Brochure (PDF, 569kb)
- HIV and Alcohol: The Context and Motives for Alcohol Use and the Potential for High Risk Behavior (PDF, 3.5mb)
- Women Engaged in Sex Work and Transactional Sex in Tanzania (PDF, 3.9kb)
- Long Distance Truck Driving and Potential for High Risk Behavior (PDF, 1.8mb)
Contacts
Center for Private Sector Health Initiatives
1825 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20009
+1 (202) 884-8334
pshi@fhi360.org