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US Ambassador to Egypt visits
“Ask, Consult” Pharmacy in Tanta
H.E. Francis J. Ricciardone endorses the private sector
health marketing program with 15,000 pharmacies, implemented by
the USAID-funded
Communication for Healthy Living (CHL) project.
November 8, 2006, Tanta, Egypt.
US Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone’s first question to
pharmacist Tarek Erfan of El Sheikha Sabah “Ask, Consult”
affiliated Pharmacy in Tanta got straight to the point: “Do
people come to you for information about their health?”
Dr. Erfan replied, “Yes! People ask me for health advice and
information all the time.” He showed the ambassador and his wife
a series of health communication materials developed and
distributed to all 15,000 Ask, Consult affiliate pharmacies.
Messages echo those promoted through the mass media, urging to
viewers to seek specific health information, educational
materials, and appropriate commercial health products where they
see the Ask, Consult logo—recognized by 90% of Egyptians. Topics
of both media and point of sale materials have included family
planning, Avian Influenza, safe pregnancy, tuberculosis,
hygiene, and safe injection. The current wave focuses on
management of diarrheal diseases in children, supported by a
media campaign promoting zinc syrup, a product endorsed by the
WHO.
“Because of Ask, Consult, I have access to better health
information and can share more knowledge with my customers,” Dr.
Erfan explained. Mr. Ricciardone was curious to know in what
other ways the pharmacist benefited from his membership in Ask,
Consult. “It’s increased my business,” Dr. Erfan stated.
Private sector manufacturers, pharmacists and the Ministry of
Health and Population share the goal of having people use health
products properly. The “Ask, Consult” (AC, or “Isaal, Istishir”)
program uses an advanced social marketing model that invests in
communication to grow the market for appropriate, commercially
available health products.
The Ask, Consult model engages manufacturers in leveraging
program costs through CSR and in-kind support. Corporate
partners have included Schering, Organon, Procter & Gamble,
Ameco (disposable syringes), Averros (zinc), and others. The
Johns Hopkins University Center for Communications programs,
which provides technical assistance to CHL and the Ask, Consult
program, is in the process of establishing Ask, Consult as an
independent entity. A key part of the Ask, Consult mission is to
support public health objectives through sustainable business
practices that ultimately improve the health status of the
Egyptian people.
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