Estimating the cost of scaling-up maternal and newborn health interventions to reach universal coverage: methodology and assumptions
Author(s): World Health Organization
Publication date: 2005
Number of pages: 66
Language: English
Overview/abstract
This document provides information on the methods, key parameters and underlying assumptions used to estimate the costs of expanding the coverage of skilled maternal and newborn health (MNH) care at facilities towards universal access, which is defined here as 95% coverage. The costs include activities assessed to be crucial in strengthening maternal and newborn health care services to improve health and reduce morbidity and mortality in 75 key countries. The selected countries account for the majority of the maternal and newborn ill-health and mortality burden in low and middle-income countries.
Costs were calculated annually, from 2006 to 2015, and per country based on a bottom-up ingredients approach in order to estimate the additional resources needed to provide 67 key MNH interventions and services.
The total incremental costs for the entire period were estimated at US$ 39 billion, in addition to current expenditure, increasing from US$ 1 billion in 2006, as coverage expands, to US$ 6.1 billion in 2015. This would mean an additional US$ 0.22 per inhabitant per year initially, expanding to US$ 1.18 in 2015.
If this scale-up scenario is implemented, significant steps will have been taken in every country in reducing maternal mortality and at a global level the Millennium Development Goal 5 for improving maternal health could potentially be achieved.