PSI (Population Services International) Joins World's Top Social Marketers at World Conference on Achieving Positive Change through Strategic Communications, Marketing and Behavior Change

DUBLIN, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Global health organization PSI will be featured prominently throughout the 2^nd World Non-Profit & Social Marketing Conference, which opens today in Dublin, Ireland. The two-day conference features leading thinkers from across the world in the field of social marketing, the behavioral sciences, strategic communications, health promotion, policy development and advocacy.

"Social marketing is at the core of PSI's work and we are honored to be a participant and a sponsor of the 2^nd World Non-Profit & Social Marketing Conference," said PSI's Chief Technical Officer Steven Chapman, Ph.D. "In our view, social marketing is all about making it easier for people to live healthier lives, especially those living in low income and developing communities who need better access to critical health products, services, and information."

Chapman will be speaking during a Monday panel on "The Evolution of Social Marketing for Services: Experiences in Clinical Service Delivery in Developing Countries" with speakers from the World Health Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The panel focuses on harnessing the power of the private sector to provide higher-quality health services to vulnerable populations in the developing world through franchised clinics, which deliver the benefits of branding to health care providers along with access to supplies, training, and medicines at subsidized prices. PSI is one of the largest social franchising organizations in the world.

On Tuesday, the Executive Director of PSI's affiliate in Zambia, Society for Family Health, Dr. Mannasseh Phiri, will deliver the closing keynote address of the conference, entitled "Social marketing in the developed and developing worlds: time for (ex)change?" Dr. Phiri will highlight social marketing programs in developing countries, where PSI has taken highly advanced programs to scale. In addition, PSI will speak at six seminars and deliver five poster presentations on its work in Cambodia, the Caribbean, Central America, India, Madagascar, Mexico and Rwanda.

For more information please contact Anna Dirksen (adirksen@psi.org; 202 469 6673) or visit www.psi.org.  

About PSI

PSI is a leading global health organization with programs targeting malaria, child survival, HIV, reproductive health and non-communicable diseases. Working in partnership within the public and private sectors, and harnessing the power of markets, PSI provides life-saving products, clinical services and behavior change communications that empower the world's most vulnerable populations to lead healthier lives. For more information and live updates, follow PSI on twitter twitter.com/PSIHealthyLives or subscribe to the PSI's blog at psihealthylives.com.

SOURCE PSI