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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Grace Chee, Partners for Health Reform-Plus, 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-913-0545, grace_chee@abtassoc.com, Bryn Sakagawa, MIM, MPH, International Health, Abt Associates Inc., 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, Nadra Franklin, LINKAGES Project, Academy for Educational Development, 1825 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009-5721, and Joan Schubert, Academy for Educational Development, The LINKAGES Project, 1825 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009.
LINKAGES is a USAID-funded global program providing technical assistance to organizations promoting breastfeeding. It has been working in Ghana in this capacity since 1999. By focusing on community level activities, LINKAGES has shown that it can successfully increase target breastfeeding behaviors in relatively short periods of time. Evaluation of its activities in October 2000 found that exclusive breastfeeding in the intervention communities was 68%, compared with 44% in control communities. In the program areas, 50% of infants were put to the breast within the first hour of birth as opposed to 22% reported in the control communities. Going one step beyond measuring outcomes, this study analyzes the cost effectiveness of LINKAGES’ interventions in three regions using three measures of effectiveness: 1) Timely Introduction of Breastfeeding (TIBF); 2) Exclusive Breastfeeding; and, Timely Introduction of Complementary Foods (TICF). Cost information is analyzed on two levels. First, the study calculates the cost effectiveness of LINKAGES’ inputs in these interventions, comparing outcome measures with LINKAGES costs only. The second level analysis includes the costs incurred by local partners to achieve the outcomes documented. LINKAGES’ and its partner costs are analyzed by intervention region, by activity, and by behavior change attained. Using this methodology, the study calculates the cost of attaining increases in each of the targeted behaviors. As part of conducting this study in Ghana, the research team has developed a costing methodology that can be replicated in other countries.
Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will be able to
Keywords: Cost Issues, Child Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.