PMC Celebrates 20 Years

Population Media Center (PMC) has broadcast in more than 50 countries and helped more than 500 million people live healthier lives. When PMC started in 1998, we hoped to build a community of donors, volunteers, and advocates — and we hoped to make a difference. After more than 40 shows in over 20 languages, look at a sampling of what has been accomplished.

For example, one PMC show catalyzed 1.1 million new family planning users at a cost of 89 cents each in Northern Nigeria and another show motivated 50 percent of health clinic patient visits after broadcast in Sierra Leone. In the U.S., 27,000 people were motivated to utilize a Planned Parenthood widget to assess their risk for STDs and pregnancy – after just one month of broadcast of PMC’s hit program, East Los High.

Our shows have also changed perceptions of social norms, making it more socially acceptable for girls to pursue higher education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where listeners were 3.2 times more likely than non-listeners to state that girls should be encouraged to pursue their education to a high level. Radio broadcasts in Rwanda emphasized environmental conservation, and listeners were 3.4 times more likely than non-listeners to know that protecting mountain gorillas can reduce poverty and bring tourists. Discussing family planning became more socially acceptable in Burundi where listeners were 2.3 times more likely than non-listeners to report that their partner/spouse is open to the conversation of family planning.

The people who tell us about how their lives have been changed motivate us to do more. And the support from people like you has been overwhelming, and it has accomplished so much. But don’t take our word for it. Look for yourself at what you have done. We look forward to what we will do together in the next 20 years.