DoH calls direct marketing pitch for Healthy Start voucher account

by Joe Thomas, marketingmagazine.co.uk 01-Jul-09, 09:10

LONDON - The Department of Health has called a pitch for a direct marketing agency to handle its Healthy Start Vitamins account, which is part of the Healthy Start voucher scheme.

The scheme, aimed at young woman with children under five, or pregnant woman under 18, provides £3.10 worth of vouchers a week. The vouchers can be used at participating retailers for milk, fruit and vegetables, as well as infant formula.

A spokeswoman for the DoH said that it was looking for an agency to specifically communicate its Healthy Start vitamins as part of the Healthy Start scheme.

"We are currently in the process of reviewing existing communications to the public and health professionals around the importance of healthy start vitamins and how they can be accessed,' she said.

The DoH is currently working with the Central Office of Information (COI) to manage the pitch. Six agencies were asked to submit credeintials last week and a shortlist will be drawn up in the near future.

The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006, replacing the welfare food scheme which was first launched in the 1940s.