Effects of a Mass Media Radio Serial Drama on Family Planning Demand Generation and Determinants of Family Planning Use in Burundi

William Ryerson, Population Media Center
Fatou Jah, Population Media Center
Scott Connolly, Population Media Center
Kriss Barker, Population Media Center
Jean Bosco Ndayishimiye, Population Media - Burundi

Unmet need for family planing is widespread and highest in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), at 25% compared with other world regions. Cultural norms are the proximate barriers to achieving widespread FP use in SSA. To help address these barriers and generate FP demand, Population Media Center developed and broadcast a nationwide 208-episode entertainment-education radio serial drama from January 2014 to January 2016 in Burundi, a country with one of the highest unmet need. The program was evaluated using a variety of methods in order to estimate its effect on FP demand generation and the determinants of FP use as well as to determine program reach and cost-effectiveness. Apart from the popularity of the intervention, findings indicate that it succeeded in motivating listeners to seek FP/RH services and positively influenced the determinants of FP use. The evidence reveals that cost-effectiveness is dependent on the number of listeners impacted for any particular determinant.