December 2010
Kimberly-Clark (K-C) Colombia and 4th Sector Health initiated an alliance in September to improve maternal and child health among poor and marginalized women throughout the Andean region. Kimberly-Clark’s Corporate Social Responsibility goals of improving maternal and child health through the use of its products are aligned with its core business model.
The new alliance, Improving Maternal and Child Health in the Andean Region, will reach more than 650,000 new and expecting mothers with a direct marketing campaign that will not only promote K-C-related baby products, but will also provide timely information, enabling mothers to access adequate prenatal and postnatal care as well as early childhood health services.
As 85 percent of the population accessing health services in the Andean region falls into the low-income bracket, K-C Colombia recognizes that its outreach to mothers is also an opportunity to improve health information and practices. Through its promotional “baby shower” events, K-C offers prizes, gifts, and product samples. These events also enable mothers to receive health information from gynecologists, obstetricians, and child psychologists, to promote health pregnancies, births, and early childhood development.
Through support of the alliance, a local maternal and child health organization is reviewing K-C’s health materials, to tailor the information so that it is relevant to the local context. Pilot activities will be launched in Colombia and Ecuador and then scaled up throughout Latin America.