Jorien van der Weerd
Last year, September 2018, Dutch women were facing the problem of a shortage of birth control pills for three months. Pharmacies did not offer any birth control pills or only offered different expensive ones. The shortage of birth control pills led to a huge commotion in the news (here, here, here, here) and on social media. Women panicked and not felt taken seriously about the energy of this shortage. This shortage led to offers of birth control pills for sale on websites like martktplaats.nl. Women even travelled to Belgium to get their pill. Social media exploded with messages of women crying for the help of others who had birth control pills left via the hashtag #womenhelpingwomen.
This blog will analyze the crisis communication of this issue. How did they react? Was this good or bad? And tips for the future!
How could this happen?
This problem was caused by production problems wherefore a charge of pills was rejected who did not meet the qualifications. The commodities of the brandless pills come from low production countries like China and India. Due to the loss of a charge of the pills a shortage arises. The Netherlands pays a very low price for these pills wherefore other countries had priority in supply. The Dutch pharmaceutical fabricants stand at the end of the supply line. This resulted in a huge shortage of birth control pills.
Who is accountable?
Those accountable for this problem are the health insurances that only compensate for the brandless, cheap birth control pills. Wherefore, almost all women in the Netherlands are using these pills. Also, Bruins minister of medical care was held responsible after receiving an urgent letter of doctors, pharmacies and women organisation to do something about this situation.
How did they react?
The pharmaceutical fabrics who had to deal with the shortages and also were accountable in some way were honest and open about the problem in their communication. Although, their communication was late and since they did not tell anybody about this problem it expanded hugely. Like research from Falkheimer (2007) confirms is it especially important to be adaptive in time and space during a crisis. In a society where news is exchanging rapidly could acknowledging the shortage problems in an earlier stage have prevented uncertainty and all these media attention. What they did well in their communication was their tone of voice that served the public interest and being honest about the situation which is important for creating trust and clarity. However, they also pointed towards the direction of the health insurances and even citizens as the cause of the problem.
When knocking on the door of the health insurences there was no answer. Only a spokesperson of the health insurance Menzis stated that they are searching for a solution and are willing to pay extra for the costs.
How you should NOT react according to PR
Differently then Bruins (minister of medical health) who did not follow the guidelines of Vercic & Vercic (2016) on how to handle a crisis in society. He communicated that birth control pills are not for medical disorders and that the payability of health should be ensured. Therefore, birth control pills are not reimbursed by health insurances. Furthermore, he advised women to a different pill with the same substitute. He argued that there are enough other pills available or birth control options available in this country.
"It is only about one brand birth control pills, luckily we have enough other options in this country, and it will only be temporary out of stock" (PAUW start 14:27min.)
Not acknowledging that taking a different pill can cause side effects and that for some women these birth control pills are necessary for medical reasons.
Heide & Simons (2015) show that is crucial in crisis communication to acknowledging the problem, showing empathy and understanding of the issue and come up with a solution. Even more important is to be factually correct, as the issue continued for three months instead of only a few weeks. None of all these essential communication strategies was followed by Bruins which led to not only more frustration and media attention but also resulted in a social discussion. Other political parties and women organization got involved and vote for a change in the system to make sure that this will not happen again.
Lessons to take away:- Acknowledge the problem/issue
- Take it seriously
- Communicate with empathy and understanding
- Come up with a solution!
Annual statement 2018: Shortage of birth control pills
PSSST! - Too late now! (translated)
Do you have any more tips or experiences on how to handle a crisis? Let me know, so we will make sure nobody will act like Bruins?
About Jorien van der Weerd
Jorien is a master
student in Political Communication & Journalism at the University of
Amsterdam. Her interest lies in the social aspects of society, the influence of
media and public opinion. She grew up in the North of the Netherlands and lives
now in the urban bubble, called Amsterdam. Peddling between these two areas of
her heart, she listens to her party playlist on repeat, tries to read the book
of Yuval Harari (never finished) and calls with her friends about life and
everything around it.
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