Preventing death through mass media

Thousands of people die daily from preventable diseases. In Mozambique, for example, over half of the deaths of children under 5 are attributable to malaria (42%), pneumonia (6%), and diarrheal disease (6%). Each of these illnesses (and many others) have simple, proven treatments or prevention methods. Yet millions of people lack access to basic education about these treatments, and death rates remain pervasively high. Development Media International (DMI) bridges this information gap through highly-tailored mass media campaigns.

Why Rippleworks Invested:

DMI’s RCT results demonstrate that mass media campaigns can lead to true behavior change, including a 7% reduction in child mortality and a 2x increase in contraceptive use simply by encouraging people to listen to the radio.