Profile- His profits from his sex shops fund family planning in Africa
Jan 24, 2010
AT 71, Phil Harvey, founder of Population Services International (PSI) — now PACE Uganda, still trades in what global moralists condemn —pornography, to fund contraceptives and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in developing countries. “I run a sex shop on mail order,†Harvey proudly says, duri
By Irene Nabusoba
AT 71, Phil Harvey, founder of Population Services International (PSI) — now PACE Uganda, still trades in what global moralists condemn —pornography, to fund contraceptives and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in developing countries. “I run a sex shop on mail order,†Harvey proudly says, during an exclusive interview at the International Family Planning Conference in Speke Resort Munyonyo, in November 2009.
“We sell sexually oriented merchandise like condoms, lingerie, sex toys and porn films. Whoever raises eyebrows because I promote sexual merchandise in the US to fund HIV prevention and contraception programmes in developing countries can go to hell,†Harvey says.
How it all started
Born in 1938 in Illinois, USA, Harvey had no background in medicine, public health or social sciences.
He got a degree in Slavic languages and literature from Harvard College. However, his five years’ work with CARE on large-scale feeding programmes of Indian children convinced him of the importance of family planning.
“While we worked tirelessly to feed children every year, their numbers swelled. I realised that it was not thoughtful to send only food to the needy. There was need for birth control through family planning methods,†he says.
Harvey enrolled for a master’s degree in family planning administration at the University of North Carolina, where he met Tim Black, with whom he founded PSI in 1970.
“We wanted to find approaches to ensure access to family planning contraceptives that were not dependent on the medical skills and infrastructures which were woefully lacking in rural areas in poor countries,†Harvey says.
The duo embarked on social marketing of contraceptives using the commercial infrastructure and techniques to brand contraceptives and get them into the market like ordinary consumer goods.
They sold condoms to students through the post, when such items were considered ‘obscene’ and trading in them by mail-illegal
A profitable business
The business made so much money that after clearing their bills, there was money left over to start Adam & Eve, USA’s leading shop in sex products like condoms, pornographic films and sex toys.
Harvey and Black incorporated PSI in 1970, to market condoms in developing countries while Adam & Eve sold contraceptives and other adult merchandise in the US.
Adam & Eve became a substantial donor to the growing activities of PSI.
“Our trick was to advertise them aggressively, subsidise the price so that virtually anyone in the society could afford them,†Harvey says.
Promoting family planning
PSI’s original aim was to improve reproductive health using commercial marketing strategies.
In 1985, it spread its wings to promote oral dehydration therapy and other emerging health problems.
They ventured into HIV/AIDS prevention by promoting abstinence, fidelity and use of condoms. Later, Black started his own reproductive health
organistaion — MarieStopes International, while Harvey started a contraceptive social marketing company called DKT in 1989, which he runs to date.
Working with the public and private sectors and harnessing the power of the markets, PSI provides life-saving products, clinical services and behaviour change communications that empower the world’s most vulnerable populations to lead healthier lives.
Following the growth and maturity of its health communication services in Uganda, PSI launched an independent local organisation called Programme for Accessible Health Communication and Education (PACE), which promotes health education programmes focusing on prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Harvey chaired a session on private partnerships in access to contraception in developing countries at the global November conference on family planing in Uganda.
The conference attracted about 1,000 delegates who discussed family planning. Harvey says entrepreneurs and business people are remarkably imaginative at finding logistical pathways to the largest number of customers.
“Social marketing by taking advantage of those networks can vastly expand the reach of family planning services.
The approach is able to reach very large numbers of people in a very short period of time,†he says.
Harvey encourages private partnerships in family planning because they are handy in supplementing government budgets.
He says the Government must remove trade barriers on contraceptives and speed up the registration process of new contraceptive products.
“They could enact policies for NGOs to follow all the national laws but should avoid gagging them,†he says.
Harvey says encouraging people to appreciate modern contraception is the best bargain. However, censorship in advertising, especially where it is controversial, is a major obstacle.
“The ability to control one’s fertility, especially for women, is a form of liberation, that I think is very important. And in 35 years of doing this, I have never seen a downside,†he says.
Branding contraceptives, the way to go
Harvey believes social marketing, where programmes convince people to embrace products and behaviour that is good for them, like using condoms or hand washing through commercial techniques like adverts, is the way to go. It increases uptake of family planning.
He says although government programmes are still the largest family planning service providers in many countries, the contraceptive needs of poor populations are increasingly being met by a wide variety of independently managed contraceptive social marketing programmes.
Harvey notes that in 2007, social marketing programmes served the contraceptive needs of 40.2 million couples in 67 countries and provided millions of condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention.
“This contribution means that social marketing programmes accounted for about 6% points of contraceptive prevalence in the developing world and roughly 20% of the birth spacing methods used by couples,†he says.
Concerning logistics and infrastructure challenges like stock outs, poor roads and lack of storage facilities, social marketing responds well.
Wherever beer, cigarettes, branded foods or other consumer goods can be found, socially marketed contraceptives can also be supplied.
“Where logistical systems are weakest, the strongest systems are usually the commercial ones,†he says.
AT 71, Phil Harvey, founder of Population Services International (PSI) — now PACE Uganda, still trades in what global moralists condemn —pornography, to fund contraceptives and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in developing countries. “I run a sex shop on mail order,†Harvey proudly says, during an exclusive interview at the International Family Planning Conference in Speke Resort Munyonyo, in November 2009.
“We sell sexually oriented merchandise like condoms, lingerie, sex toys and porn films. Whoever raises eyebrows because I promote sexual merchandise in the US to fund HIV prevention and contraception programmes in developing countries can go to hell,†Harvey says.
How it all started
Born in 1938 in Illinois, USA, Harvey had no background in medicine, public health or social sciences.
He got a degree in Slavic languages and literature from Harvard College. However, his five years’ work with CARE on large-scale feeding programmes of Indian children convinced him of the importance of family planning.
“While we worked tirelessly to feed children every year, their numbers swelled. I realised that it was not thoughtful to send only food to the needy. There was need for birth control through family planning methods,†he says.
Harvey enrolled for a master’s degree in family planning administration at the University of North Carolina, where he met Tim Black, with whom he founded PSI in 1970.
“We wanted to find approaches to ensure access to family planning contraceptives that were not dependent on the medical skills and infrastructures which were woefully lacking in rural areas in poor countries,†Harvey says.
The duo embarked on social marketing of contraceptives using the commercial infrastructure and techniques to brand contraceptives and get them into the market like ordinary consumer goods.
They sold condoms to students through the post, when such items were considered ‘obscene’ and trading in them by mail-illegal
A profitable business
The business made so much money that after clearing their bills, there was money left over to start Adam & Eve, USA’s leading shop in sex products like condoms, pornographic films and sex toys.
Harvey and Black incorporated PSI in 1970, to market condoms in developing countries while Adam & Eve sold contraceptives and other adult merchandise in the US.
Adam & Eve became a substantial donor to the growing activities of PSI.
“Our trick was to advertise them aggressively, subsidise the price so that virtually anyone in the society could afford them,†Harvey says.
Promoting family planning
PSI’s original aim was to improve reproductive health using commercial marketing strategies.
In 1985, it spread its wings to promote oral dehydration therapy and other emerging health problems.
They ventured into HIV/AIDS prevention by promoting abstinence, fidelity and use of condoms. Later, Black started his own reproductive health
organistaion — MarieStopes International, while Harvey started a contraceptive social marketing company called DKT in 1989, which he runs to date.
Working with the public and private sectors and harnessing the power of the markets, PSI provides life-saving products, clinical services and behaviour change communications that empower the world’s most vulnerable populations to lead healthier lives.
Following the growth and maturity of its health communication services in Uganda, PSI launched an independent local organisation called Programme for Accessible Health Communication and Education (PACE), which promotes health education programmes focusing on prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Harvey chaired a session on private partnerships in access to contraception in developing countries at the global November conference on family planing in Uganda.
The conference attracted about 1,000 delegates who discussed family planning. Harvey says entrepreneurs and business people are remarkably imaginative at finding logistical pathways to the largest number of customers.
“Social marketing by taking advantage of those networks can vastly expand the reach of family planning services.
The approach is able to reach very large numbers of people in a very short period of time,†he says.
Harvey encourages private partnerships in family planning because they are handy in supplementing government budgets.
He says the Government must remove trade barriers on contraceptives and speed up the registration process of new contraceptive products.
“They could enact policies for NGOs to follow all the national laws but should avoid gagging them,†he says.
Harvey says encouraging people to appreciate modern contraception is the best bargain. However, censorship in advertising, especially where it is controversial, is a major obstacle.
“The ability to control one’s fertility, especially for women, is a form of liberation, that I think is very important. And in 35 years of doing this, I have never seen a downside,†he says.
Branding contraceptives, the way to go
Harvey believes social marketing, where programmes convince people to embrace products and behaviour that is good for them, like using condoms or hand washing through commercial techniques like adverts, is the way to go. It increases uptake of family planning.
He says although government programmes are still the largest family planning service providers in many countries, the contraceptive needs of poor populations are increasingly being met by a wide variety of independently managed contraceptive social marketing programmes.
Harvey notes that in 2007, social marketing programmes served the contraceptive needs of 40.2 million couples in 67 countries and provided millions of condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention.
“This contribution means that social marketing programmes accounted for about 6% points of contraceptive prevalence in the developing world and roughly 20% of the birth spacing methods used by couples,†he says.
Concerning logistics and infrastructure challenges like stock outs, poor roads and lack of storage facilities, social marketing responds well.
Wherever beer, cigarettes, branded foods or other consumer goods can be found, socially marketed contraceptives can also be supplied.
“Where logistical systems are weakest, the strongest systems are usually the commercial ones,†he says.