Abstract:
The Standard Days Method (SDM) has been part
of the family planning modern method mix for
over a decade, and countries are gradually
incorporating SDM into national family
planning norms, policies, and programs. This
study aimed to systematically examine SDM
costs in three of the five focus countries
where the Institute for Reproductive Health
(IRH) and its partners have worked to
integrate SDM into family planning programs.
The total cost of the SDM integration effort
was $916,000 in Guatemala, $671,000 in
India/Jharkhand, and $2,718,000 in Rwanda. A
unit cost analysis found that, in Guatemala
and Rwanda, SDM had substantially lower
routine service delivery costs compared with
the oral pills, injectables, and condoms. In
India, SDM is more costly than orals, but
less costly than condoms. SDM becomes even
less costly by comparison for those users
that continue using beyond the first year. It
also compares quite favorably with similar
methods in terms of cost per birth averted
over a two-year time frame. As for any new
method, large-scale integration of SDM into a
family planning program takes a substantial
amount of time and money, and, in deciding
whether to undertake such introduction and
scale-up activities, decision makers need to
weigh those costs against the individual and
societal benefits of expanding method choice.
Once SDM is established within family
planning programs, it appears to have a
similar, or even lower, routine service
delivery cost compared with other short-term
methods of contraception.