There is a longstanding debate on the contribution of social marketing to public health in general, and to health education and health promotion in particular. This paper presents further discussion from a public health point of view and concludes that priority should be given to health-oriented approaches rather than market-oriented strategies.
It is argued that, at best, social marketing is a tool not a solution for health education's and health promotion's problems. To communicate health education messages effectively and efficiently, health needs assessment is recommended as a way forward. It is a public health approach and contains a range of flexible methods in the implementation of health education/promotion programmes.
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