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The purpose of the monthly Spotlight is to showcase health communication materials that have had proven impact.
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MABROUK! FAMILY HEALTH BOOKLET - EGYPT
With over 575,000 marriages per year in Egypt, the hopes, dreams, and health behavior choices made by this generation will shape the future of the country. The Communication for Healthy Living (CHL) project's Newlywed Initiative places marriage as the entry point for family health messages, because it is at this stage that couples make many health and behavior decisions that affect the rest of their lives. As part of this initiative, the Mabrouk! (Congratulations!) booklet is designed to serve as a guide for new couples and provide them with health information connected to the various life events likely to happen within the first few years of marriage, with specific focus on communication, the home environment, reproductive health, family planning, pregnancy, postpartum and neonatal care. It is packaged in an elegant, re-usable frame, with the intention of keeping the booklet readily accessible as a reference, along with family photos on display in the home.
The Mabrouk! booklet is being distributed to newlywed couples throughout the country by health outreach workers, maazouns (muslim marriage registrars) and priests. Several hundred thousand copies have also been distributed as inserts in popular magazines and at CHL Newlywed Celebration publicity events. Newlywed Celebrations are a lively component of the Newlywed Initiative, based on an Egyptian custom of group wedding receptions, where the families and friends of multiple newlywed couples join in one large event and share in the festivities—and costs. Newlywed Celebrations have been held in 9 governorates, with over 100 couples taking center stage at each event. CHL capitalizes on the popularity of these events, using celebrities and entertainment-education activities to introduce health messages that link health with happiness and encourage people to take an active role in protecting their health and that of their future family. The events not only draw huge local audiences, but also generate impressive local and national media coverage.
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Mabrouk! booklet in English
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Mabrouk! booklet in Arabic
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EVIDENCE OF IMPACT
An evening dinner and social event, held in December 2005, brought together 63 of the 150 couples who had participated in the first group wedding celebration held in El Minya governorate in September 2004. The CHL project has continued to engage these couples in village-level health interventions as they begin their family life. The room was filled with beaming parents holding their healthy first-born children, as well as couples preparing for their first child. The governor expressed his pride in the young couples for being healthy role models. Magdy Fouad of Upper Egypt's Channel 7 MC'ed the events, interacting with the young couples with quizzes and prizes based on the Mabrouk! booklet. Mr. Fouad is producing a one-hour show featuring couples that are a part of this initiative, as is Youth and Sports Radio. When a young couple was asked if they were using the Mabrouk! booklet, the wife replied, "Using it? We're living it!" The booklet continues to be in high demand around the country, and is proving to be a valuable tool in attracting sponsors interested in reaching the same target audience. Research among users has clearly shown that women exposed to the Mabrouk! booklet are more likely to have positive family planning and family health attitudes and intentions:
CREDITS
The Mabrouk! booklet was produced by the Communication for Healthy Living project, a collaborative effort between Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and Ministry of Information and the State Information Services (MOI-SIS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Technical assistance is provided by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, a lead member in the Health Communication Partnership.
 See photographs of the group wedding celebration in September 2004.
 See other health communication materials in Arabic.
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