RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The cost of behavior change communication (BCC) interventions has not been rigorously studied in Bangladesh. This study was conducted to assess the implementation costs of a BCC intervention in a maternal, neonatal and child health program (Manoshi) run by BRAC, which has been operating in the urban slums of Dhaka since 2007. The study estimates the costs of BCC tools per exposure among the different types of BCC channels: face-to-face, group counseling, and mass media. METHODS: The study was conducted from November 2010 to April 2011 in the Dhaka urban slum area. A micro-costing approach was applied using primary and secondary data sources to estimate the cost of BCC tools. Primary data were collected through interviews with service-providers and managers from the Manoshi program, observations of group counseling, and mass media events. RESULTS: Per exposure, the cost of face-to-face counseling was found to be 3.08 BDT during pregnancy detection, 3.11 BDT during pregnancy confirmation, 12.42 BDT during antenatal care, 18.96 BDT during delivery care and 22.65 BDT during post-natal care. The cost per exposure of group counseling was 22.71 BDT (95% CI 21.30-24.87) for Expected Date of Delivery (EDD) meetings, 14.25 BDT (95% CI 12.37-16.12) for Women Support Group meetings, 17.83 BDT (95% CI 14.90-20.77) for MNCH committee meetings and 6.62 BDT (95% CI 5.99-7.26) for spouse forum meetings. We found the cost per exposure for mass media interventions was 9.54 BDT (95% CI 7.30-12.53) for folk songs, 26.39 BDT (95% CI 23.26-32.56) for street dramas, 0.39 BDT for TV-broadcasting and 7.87 BDT for billboards. Considering all components reaching the target audience under each broader type of channel, the total cost per exposure was found to be 60.22 BDT (0.82 USD) for face-to-face counseling, 61.40 BDT (0.82 USD) for group counseling and 44.19 BDT (0.61 USD) for mass media. CONCLUSIONS: The total cost for group counseling was the highest per exposure, followed by face-to-face counseling and mass media. The cost per exposure varied substantially across BCC channels due to differences in cost drivers such as personnel, materials and refreshments. The cost per exposure can be valuable for planning and resource allocation related to the implementation of BCC interventions in low resource settings.
RESUMO
CONTEXT: Annually, more than 700,000 women turn to menstrual regulation, or uterine evacuation with vacuum aspiration; many more resort to unsafe abortion. Using pills for the evacuation of the uterus could increase women's access to safe menstrual regulation services and reduce the high levels of abortion- and menstrual regulation- related morbidity in Bangladesh. METHODS: At 10 facilities in Bangladesh, 651 consenting women who were seeking menstrual regulation services and who were 63 days or less past their last menstrual period received 200 mg of mifepristone followed 24 hours later by 800 mcg of buccal misoprostol, administered either at home or in the clinic. Prospective data were collected to determine women's experience and satisfaction with the procedure, menstrual regulation outcome, and the human and physical resources required for providing the method. Focus group discussions were conducted with a purposively sampled group of service providers at each site to understand their attitudes about the introduction of menstrual regulation with medication. RESULTS: The majority of women (93%) with known menstrual regulation outcomes evacuated the uterus without surgical intervention. Overall, most women (92%) were satisfied with use of pills for their menstrual regulation. Providers faced initial challenges and concerns, particularly related to the additional counseling requirements and lack of control over the final outcome, but became more confident after successful use of the medication regimen. CONCLUSIONS: Mifepristone-misoprostol can be safely offered within existing menstrual regulation services in urban and periurban areas in Bangladesh and is highly acceptable to women. Providers' initial concerns diminish with increased experience with the method.
