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Dr. Mohamed Refaat brings the maternal and child health messages
of CHL’s Sahetak, Sarwetak campaign to his popular radio show
Yom Wara Yom (Day After Day), featuring health advice and
information for new mothers.
Every Thursday at 3pm, over a million mothers and caretakers
throughout Cairo tune into 100.6 “Negoom” (Stars) FM to listen
to the trusted advice of Dr. Mohamed Refaat, popularly known as
“The Baby Doctor.”
“Day after day, every day of your life, your health is your
wealth,” Dr. Refaat began his September 7th show, weaving the
slogan as well as specific maternal and child health messages
from the USAID-funded Communication for Healthy Living (CHL)
project’s national public health campaign into his program.
During the one hour live broadcast, Dr. Refaat received over 200
text messages from mothers with questions for him, and the phone
lines were lit up with others trying to get through with their
questions. Dr. Refaat responded to issues ranging from how to
handle infant tantrums to babies who don’t look at their mothers
and digestive disturbances. In addition to the Q&A feature, each
show has standard segments, such as “Baby Names” which discusses
the meaning of popular and unusual names, and a featured topic.
Due to the popularity of Yom Wara Yom, Negoom FM also broadcasts
a series of 3-minute tips recorded by Dr. Refaat that are aired
20 times per week. Past tips have focused on proper
breastfeeding, danger signs during pregnancy, delivery, and the
post-partum period, as well as the usefulness of zinc syrup as a
supplement to the prevention and treatment of diarrhea. One tip
per day is designated as “Sahetak, Sarwetak (Your health is Your
Wealth) tip and focuses on specific messages from the campaign.
“Having a child brings strong emotions, and the greatest
question we ask ourselves is ‘how can I handle this new
responsibility?’ It is this feeling that motivates us to learn
as much as we can about caring for our precious treasure,” said
Dr. Refaat by way of an introduction to one of the tips on
post-partum danger signs. “Watching over our own health is the
best way we can protect our children’s health. This is why we
say Sahetak, Sarwetak, and why we must pay attention and learn
this information well,” he continued.
Yom Wara Yom is sponsored by both Proctor and Gamble as part of
their Pampers Expert Center program and CHL as one of several
ongoing activities under an MOU aimed at improving the health of
Egyptians. Dr. Refaat’s show is aired on Egypt’s first private
radio station, Negoom FM, listened to by over 30% of Cairo’s
adult population, making it Cairo’s #2 most popular radio
station (2nd only to Quran Karim religious radio programming).
Dr. Refaat’s popular Yom Wara Yom weekly TV show is also
sponsored by CHL and P&G. The success of Yom Wara Yom points to
the viability of private sector partnerships towards sustainable
health programs.
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