ADVOCACY

FOR HEALTH
DR. S MAHMUD MISHU BDS MPH
LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
SCHOOL OF HEALTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY
Let’s trace out the concept of advocacy first
ADVOCACY
A powerful strategy for promoting
health promotion goals.
The Ottawa Charter (1986) identified 3
main strategies for health promotion:
1.Advocacy
2.Enablement, and
3.Mediation
Kickbusch (1995) identifies that the aim of public
health is to improve the health of communities
through:
•Advocating for healthy public policies
•Mediating between diff. interests in society to
benefit health, and
•Enabling communities and individuals to achieve
their full potential
So how can we define it?
a ‘combination of individual and social actions designed to gain
political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and
systems support for a particular health goal or program’
(WHO, 1995).
Let’s simplify it…
Advocacy simply means actively supporting a cause, and
trying to get others to support it as well.

Advocacy is speaking up, drawing attention to an

important issue and directing decision makers towards a
solution.
 Differences and similarities of
Advocacy and IEC
ADVOCACY SIMILARITIES IEC

✓ Process & Goal:

Goal: Actively Identify, segment
supporting a cause, audiences Change attitudes,
and trying to get ✓ Undertake research to clarify Beliefs, values and
issues Behaviour of individuals
others to support it
✓ Develop strategies & or group of individuals
as well messages
✓ Monitor and evaluate
Issues for Advocacy
✓ Enhancing Gender Equity, Equality and
Empowerment of Women
✓ Promoting Reproductive Health and Rights
✓ Population and Development Linkages
✓ Mobilizing and Monitoring Resources
✓ Violence against women Early marriage of girls
✓ Gender disparities in education
✓ Male responsibility
✓ Gender disaggregated data
✓ Unequal social and political participation
 ✓ The reproductive health approach
Issues for Advocacy
✓ Reproductive rights
✓ Maternal and newborn care

✓ STDs and HIV/AIDS

✓ Adolescent reproductive health
The reproductive
✓✓ Reorienting nationalhealth approach
population policies
Reproductive rights
✓✓ Strengthening national data systems
✓ Maternal and newborn care
✓ Addressing needs of special population
✓ STDs and HIV/AIDS
✓ ✓Achieving basic
Adolescent social services
reproductive for all
health
✓ Reorienting national population policies
✓ Strengthening national data systems
✓ Addressing needs of special population

✓ Achieving basic social services for all

Major areas of advocacy work
✓ Leadership development
✓ Coalition building
✓ Networking
✓ Political Lobbying
✓ Promoting legislative change
✓ Briefing media
✓ Counteracting opposition
Stakeholders of Advocacy

✓ Beneficiaries

✓ Decision makers

✓ Allies and partners

✓ Resistant groups (Adversaries)

 Approach for advocacy
ACTION
I act and help others to
act
I am ready for action

Knowledge What can I do about it?

There is a problem, but there is nothing I can do.

There is no problem
 The Advocacy & Campaigning Cycle
Know what you
want to change
Identify how to
make that
Ask – is it change
working ?

Make a Plan of
Action
Start your
activities

Ian
 Techniques and Tactics
Advocacy Audience/Stakeholder Category
techniques
and tactics Beneficiaries Partners Adversaries Decisionmakers

Sensitization

Mobilization

Dialoguing

Debating

Negotiating

Lobbying

Petitioning

Pressuring
https://youtu.be/atbZYs215Uw
 ADVOCACY
CAMPAIGN
Components of an effective
public health
advocacy campaign:
1. Information about public
health problems and their
causes or determinants, and
about effective solutions or
responses.
2. Health professionals are
important in establishing an
agenda, or in proposing
courses of action (credible)
3. Bureaucrats play crucial
roles in translating the
agenda of public health into
the language
and thinking of the
government of the day. Can
influence procedures
4. Partnerships or coalitions
with key stakeholders:
individuals or organizations.
Critical because most of the
decisions affecting the health
of individuals and communities
are made by and in sectors
other than health
ADVOCACY
CAMPAIGN
5. Champions or leaders to draw public
and political attention to the issue and
proposed solutions. Particularly skilled at
working with the mass media, negotiating
directly with multiple stakeholders,
including politicians, community and
business leaders and individuals
6. Community educators and organisers to
build widespread, community support for
action to address an issue, for generating
solutions, and for supporting proposed
changes in policy.
7. Journalists to engage community attention, to
initiate and encourage debate about both the
problem and suggested solutions
ADVOCACY
CAMPAIGN
8. A recognized constituency : the advocate
needs the backing of a significant, credible,
and respected constituency.
9. Research, including market research, to
identify problems, test solutions, and to assess
the “readiness” of communities to act
on a given public health issue
10. Evaluation to assess the effects of the different
components, including impact and outcomes
Our undergrad students were advocating for themselves.
Let’s watch out…

https://www.facebook.com/PBH101/videos/2263660440394283
THANK YOU