From the community
Clean water, every day
A mother in a rural community describes what it meant when water purification products became available through her Community Health Worker — and what it has changed for her family's health.
What We Do
Social Marketing of Health Products
Access to quality healthcare is not a privilege for those who can afford it, or those who live close enough to reach it. It is a right.
45,000+
30
9
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The challenge
The global picture
Millions of people die each year from entirely preventable diseases — not because the solutions do not exist, but because those solutions never reach them. Safe water, family planning commodities, HIV prevention tools and malaria protection are all available. The gap is in distribution, affordability, and the behaviour change needed for communities to adopt and consistently use them.
Social marketing bridges that gap. By applying commercial marketing principles to public health — understanding what people need, what they can afford, what they trust, and how they make decisions — it gets life-saving products into the hands of the people who need them most.
The Rwanda context
Rwanda has made significant progress through expanded health insurance, a strong community health worker network, and sustained investment in public health infrastructure. Yet gaps remain. Safe water access is uneven across rural communities. Family planning commodities do not always reach the last mile. Malaria prevention tools are inconsistently used in high-burden areas.
The challenge is not awareness alone — it is the intersection of availability, affordability, acceptability and behaviour. A product that sits in a district warehouse but never reaches a rural household has not solved the problem. A product that reaches a household but is not used correctly has not solved it either.
The gaps that still cost lives
- Households in rural and hard-to-reach communities still lack consistent access to affordable water purification, leaving families vulnerable to cholera, typhoid and other preventable waterborne disease
- Family planning commodities do not always reach the last mile, particularly where distribution networks are thin and community supply chains are fragile
- Malaria prevention products are inconsistently available and inconsistently used, especially in the high-burden districts that need them most
- HIV prevention commodities remain affected by stigma, misinformation and distribution gaps that keep them from young people, key populations and remote communities
- Behavioural barriers compound all of it — myths, cultural resistance, and a lack of trusted health education that would motivate communities to seek and correctly use what is available
Our approach
Our social marketing programme applies evidence-based marketing and distribution strategies to ensure that life-saving health products are available, affordable, accessible and correctly used — across every district in Rwanda.
Making products available and affordable
The right product, at the right price, in the right place
- Countrywide distribution of P&G water purification products through markets, health posts, community health workers and retail outlets
- Countrywide distribution of Sur'Eau, Rwanda's trusted household water treatment solution, through community and commercial channels
- Family planning commodity distribution to health posts, community health workers and community distribution points, including hard-to-reach areas where public supply chains are insufficient
- HIV prevention product distribution through diversified channels including health posts, CHWs, retail points and targeted outreach to key populations
- Malaria prevention product distribution — treated nets, repellents and other tools — through community and commercial networks in high-burden areas
Evidence-based research and strategy
Decisions driven by data, not assumptions
- Market research and consumer insights — understanding how communities access, perceive and use health products, and what prevents consistent uptake
- Accessibility, acceptability and affordability analysis — assessing not just whether products are physically available, but whether they are priced within reach and practically usable
- Distribution channel analysis — identifying the most effective pathways to the last mile and continuously optimizing them against performance data
- Programme monitoring and evaluation — tracking availability, uptake and correct use across all channels, and using that data to improve targeting and pricing
Last-mile distribution
Reaching the communities that systems leave behind
For SFH Rwanda, last-mile distribution is not an afterthought — it is the core challenge the entire programme is designed to solve.
- Community Health Worker distribution networks, so families who cannot reach a health post or market can still access what they need through the CHW who visits their home
- District and Cell Coordinator networks managing supply chains at cell level, monitoring stock and keeping distribution points replenished
- Mobile and outreach distribution through market days and community gatherings
- Private sector partnerships with retail networks, pharmacies and private health facilities, leveraging existing infrastructure to achieve scale
- Health post integration, so SFH-supported health posts serve as reliable distribution and resupply points
Our products
SFH is the only NGO in Rwanda that social markets healthcare products in water, HIV, malaria and family planning. We offer affordable, high-quality products that make health and hygiene accessible:
OFF! Overtime Insect Repellent Lotion
Long-lasting protection against mosquitoes.
Sur'Eau & P&G
Ensuring safe drinking water for families across Rwanda.
Plaisir Condom
Worn by men during sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections.
OraQuick HIV Test
A convenient, rapid and accurate way for individuals to determine their HIV status.
Confiance Contraceptives
Empowering women and men to make informed family planning decisions.
OFF! Soft & Scented Insect Repellent Lotion
Feel-good protection from mosquitoes.
Baygon Mosquito Coil
Lighting the tip of the coil lets it smoulder, releasing mosquito-repelling smoke.
Guardian™ Spatial Repellent
Passively emanates an active ingredient to protect against mosquito landings and bites in enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces.
P&G Purifier of Water
A powdered water purification technology in a small packet that purifies 10 litres of contaminated water, removing dirt and contaminants to make it safe to drink.
Our impact
What our work has achieved
| Indicator | Achievement |
|---|---|
| P&G water purification | Countrywide distribution reaching households in all districts, including hard-to-reach areas |
| Sur'Eau distribution | Countrywide distribution through community and commercial channels |
| Family planning coverage | Products distributed through health posts, CHW networks and community distribution points nationwide |
| HIV prevention products | Condoms and prevention commodities distributed through diversified channels to key and vulnerable populations |
| Malaria prevention | Products distributed in high-burden districts in coordination with the IRS and net programmes |
| CHW distribution network | More than 45,000 Community Health Workers supported as community-level distributors |
| Behaviour change reach | Thousands of community members reached through health education sessions, radio and household visits |
Going forward
Our commitment
Access to quality health products is a right, and we are committed to making it reach every Rwandan, in every community, at every income level. Going forward this programme will:
- 1.
Expand last-mile distribution networks into the most underserved and hard-to-reach communities
- 2.
Strengthen evidence-based programme design through ongoing consumer research and market intelligence
- 3.
Scale digital distribution channels, integrating with EMR, CMR and health post networks for real-time stock management and demand forecasting
- 4.
Deepen behaviour change programming to address the barriers that prevent consistent product use
- 5.
Grow private sector partnerships with retail networks, pharmacies and commercial distributors
04
Social and behaviour change communication
A product that reaches a household but is not used is a missed opportunity