Dear Friend of DKT,
In case you missed it, DKT released our 2022 results this month, capping off a year where we generated over 61.1 million CYPs – a 14% increase from the previous year. You can view our sales data newsletter here.
In this newsletter, we have our eye on 2023 and offer an optimistic, but cautious, look ahead to future trends in the sexual and reproductive health field, sharing recent publications and news about our growing, global teams.
This newsletter offers some predictions for the coming year via my recent op-ed in Devex, an up close and personal glimpse into the struggles our Ukrainian distributor, Kleemed, faces as a result of the ongoing conflict with Russia, and a link to a recently published article on digital care for abortion.
We also introduce you to some of our talented global staff, sharing news of promotions and team training as we all continue to reconnect post-pandemic.
Thank you again for your support and interest.
Sincerely,
The DKT International Team
DKT shapes the reproductive health ecosystem
Abortion pills and digital technology are shaping the future of abortion care globally and DKT’s affiliate, Women First Digital (WFD), is at the forefront of that change. The future of digital abortion care and how abortion pills are enabling self-care is the subject of a recent article co-written by WFD Director, Tisha Gopalakrishnan; Assistant Director, Claire Crossett; and DKT International President, Christopher Purdy. The article, “Five Lessons for Digital Abortion Care: Experience from an eHealth Social Enterprise,” was published this month in the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Social Marketing. Check it out to learn about WFD’s impact and overall trends in the digital abortion space.
DKT shared a great deal of knowledge and experience this past year related to how we shape global reproductive health markets. Some of our most recent work includes:
- Janani: The Rocky Road from Charity to Social Enterprise By Amitava Chattopadhyay and David J. Olson. From INSEAD Publishing, October 2022
- How Social Marketing Contributed to Expanding Size of Overall Condom Markets in Ethiopia, Brazil, and Indonesia By David Olson, Christopher Purdy, et al. From Social Marketing Quarterly, March 28, 2022.
- Private Sector’s Potential to Deliver Sexual and Reproductive Health: Increasing Access to Contraception and Safe Abortion By Elizabeth Smith, Christopher Purdy, et al. From the International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Justice, February 14, 2022
DKT International Out Front
Mitigating risk in a war zone: DKT’s distributor in Ukraine stays steady in a conflict
In an instant, the nightmare of war became reality for DKT International’s Ukrainian distributor, Kleemed, in 2022. How Kleemed kept business afloat and its team safe and focused despite the challenges of wartime, is detailed in an article produced and published in collaboration with Reproductive Health Supplies. Kleemed procures IUDs in Ukraine from DKT WomanCare.
Kleemed CEO Roman Gladkyi speaks candidly about what it takes to keep operations moving during a time of conflict, ”One moment, you want to close your eyes and say, ‘It’s not happening to me — it’s a dream,” Gladkyi said. “You want to wake up and say, ‘Okay, it’s a dream.’ But unfortunately, it’s not a dream. And after you realize that, you have to continue to live and you have no choice.”
On reproductive health in 2023 – stay the course, it’s working!
DKT International President Christopher Purdy navigates the shifting trends in the sexual and reproductive health space in an opinion piece published last month for Devex. As we enter 2023, Purdy offers reflections on censorship, safe abortion, localization and inflation.
It can be tempting to focus on the next big thing in any field of practice, but Purdy advises against it. Instead, he makes the case for strengthening the practices that have proven successful around the world for more than 50 years. “While it is important to invest energy and resources on opportunities that pay future dividends,” Purdy says, “the fundamental strategies deployed over the last 70 years have been incredibly successful, reducing fertility by 50 percent globally… For that reason, donors and implementing agencies should place most of their energies on proven strategies that produce results while making strategic bets on new ideas.”
Spotlight on our People
Meet our emerging talent!
Congratulations to Dr. Queen Amina Biobaku who was recently promoted to Country Manager for DKT’s program in Uganda. Dr. Biobaku previously held the position of Associate Medical Director of Clinical Services and Marketing at DKT Nigeria, where she has worked since 2018. Dr. Biobaku also presented at the most recent International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) and was featured on DKT’s Instagram page during the conference.
DKT has many talented country managers in newer and developing markets around the world and recently, we featured our emerging talent in the Latin America North region on Instagram and LinkedIn: Introducing….
Rony Echeverria in Venezuela (who previously worked with DKT in Guatemala); Fatima Cardoza in El Salvador; and Kary Colon in the Dominican Republic; Isabel Valle in Nicaragua; Alejandro Coll in Honduras; Sergio Guadalupe Espinosa Ruiz in Guatemala; Ana Virginia Quezada in Panama; and Carlos Chaves in Costa Rica.
What’s in a Meme? DKT teams reconnect and learn some new tricks of the trade
If there were a theme for 2023 it would be connection – reconnection – to each other and the world. DKT International shares this desire to reconnect, and our global teams have been seeking ways to share best practices and insights with each other since meeting up last year for our global conference in Senegal. This month, our marketing and communications teams joined a global Zoom meeting to reconnect and learn social media tricks of the trade with Stacey Kawakami, Head of Strategic Marketing for our affiliate carafem. Kawakami led a training on meme making called, “What’s in a Meme?” Lots of good ideas, laughs (and memes) were shared.
