Rebecca Milner
One of the key focus areas of the upcoming World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 (WMSM 2013) will be to address the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5): Improve Maternal Health.
The United Nations found that the mortality ratio in developing regions is still 15 times higher than in the developed regions.
Speaker Rebecca Milner, vice president of International Medical Corps, reflects on MDG 5 and how we can all work together to accomplish it through the use of marketing. Rebecca will be keynote speaker for MDG 5 during the World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013.
The problem remains: An estimated 287,000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth in 2010. Although this is a decline of 47 per cent from levels in 1990, most maternal deaths today are still preventable and, globally, progress in this area is falling short.
To achieve MDG 5, we must train, equip and support more frontline health workers to improve access to emergency obstetric, antenatal and postnatal care.
We must ensure equitable access to health care, making additional interventions to overcome obstacles in underserved areas and focusing on culturally-relevant behavior change communication strategies.
In addition to health workforce strengthening at the local level, achieving MDG 5 requires capacity-building at the governmental level, which entails working with national and international partners to increase political will to implement maternal health interventions.
Changing the world through marketing
Marketing helps us build awareness and engage in targeted advocacy and educational outreach, ultimately changing the behaviors and attitudes that affect socio-economic outcomes at the individual, community, national and global level.
In order to achieve the desired behavioral outcomes, International Medical Corps calls upon a variety of approaches and activities, including: training community volunteers to provide interpersonal communication with
individuals through door-to-door visits and group discussion; producing awareness-raising materials in partnership with community stakeholders; developing culturally appropriate, educational entertainment channels, including plays, songs
and puppet shows; and strengthening civil society to foster positive social transformation.
The World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 is a fantastic opportunity to create conversations around how to use marketing as a tool to reach social goals.
Drawing from the global expertise of the speakers, WMSM 2013 can be the platform to create practical solutions to the world’s biggest challenges that can be implemented by a broad range of stakeholders.
Founded in 1984, International Medical Corps has since been on the ground saving lives within hours of the world’s biggest emergencies.
From a handful of volunteer nurses and doctors, International Medical Corps has grown to a global staff of 4,500 and thousands more volunteers, delivering $1.4 billion in lifesaving medical care and training on the frontlines of the world’s most underserved places. To date, International Medical Corps has worked in 70 countries impacted by conflict, natural disaster, disease and famine — saving tens of millions of lives and training thousands of health care workers in order to return devastated communities to self-reliance.
Catch Rebecca Milner and all the other key speakers at the World Marketing Summit Malaysia 2013 in Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), Malaysia from September 28 to 30, 2013.