responses 22

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the Swedish alcohol retail monopoly from the perspective of the consumer and from the perspective of the Swedish state?

Systembolaget is the Swedish monopoly that was made in order to spread awareness of alcoholism, even though the Swedish drink less than any other EU country. Because of this program the individuals in the country were able to become better educated on alcoholism, which then decreased alcoholism. Because of the decrease of people wanting to drink there was also a decrease seen in smuggling, simply because individuals did not want the product. Although this may all sound goof there was some disadvantages to the monopoly.

• Describe the alcohol policy defined by the government in your own country, and explain if and how regulation is carried out by your government.

Our government sets some bare basic policies and then leaves the rest up to the state. One of the basic policies is that one must be 21 one to drink, however that is different in some states where minors are with their parents. What I personally do not like about our drug and alcohol policies is that they are ever changing in each state. This can cause confusion to individual and lead to illegal actions to take place in certain states. For example, if you come from a state that allows your child to bring under your supervision, then you move to a state that that action is illegal, you can get into a lot of trouble. Where and when alcohol is sold is a lot differently in each state as well. When you are in the South you see that liquor stores close early and are not open on Sundays. In other parts of the country, however, you can see that places are open nearly 24/7 365 days a year to serve you alcohol. When it comes to the government, they place the bare minimum policies and leave it to each states discretion to go into more depth in their policies and laws.

• What are some of the inherent tensions in creating and maintaining public–private partnerships for the marketing of a health product? How can you find a win-win situation as the basis for a public-private partnership?

I feel as though the win-win situation for this public-private partnership falls a lot on public health professionals. I feel as though we can at times be the liaison between the public and private sector of a health product because we work hands on with both sides. When creating a health product, we keep in mind not only the wants and needs of the consumer, but also what they need to do in order to comply with their stakeholder’s agreements. By being able to work with both ends of the spectrum, we are able to create health products that both the consumers are educated and supportive within as well as making sure the private sector is getting the backing and support that they need.

• What are the pros and cons of balancing sustainability (e.g., systematically building a viable market for ITNs) and achieving quick public health impact (e.g., distributing millions of free ITNs)? What can be done to balance cost recovery and equity?

If this were able to be done correctly, the pros would be endless. There would be a decrease of death rate, more education on the topic within the country, as well as an overall enhanced well-being. By staying healthily, you would see les individuals sick and hospitalized which would reduce bills. The cons however, would be how to find a financial backing and how to pay them back if needed. To balance cost and equity one can reach out to partnerships that are willing to financially donate to the product and program in order to see its success. If you work with a company such as a hospital, they may donate finances in order to reduce the amount of unpaid emgergency visits that will occur if the population has your product.

• NetMark decided it had to go far beyond the 4Ps in order to succeed in Nigeria. Under what conditions should a social marketing program go beyond the 4Ps? What are the risks, rewards, and other factors to consider?

NetMark knew that for order for them to become successful that they would have to look outside the box and work outside of the 4Ps. In Nigeria malaria was a huge epidemic that was killing many, even small children. Even though the epidemic is not as big as it once was, it is still an ongoing issue in some of our third world countries. Because these countries needed so much help NetMark had to push themselves outside the box. The first risk that was in investors. This was an issue because this product had no proof, so it could be hard to get companies to invest in a product just off of talk. Another risk is the product did not work on some people that could ultimately result in death. However, although there was many risk if the product and program worked there could be a huge benefit of saving millions of lives.

Rebecca

Week 12 & 13

COLLAPSE