The returns on investment in contraceptive services: recent estimates for Uganda

Akinrinola Bankole, Guttmacher Institute
Michael Vlassoff, Guttmacher Institute
Aparna Sundaram, Guttmacher Institute
Frederick Mugisha, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

The high level of unintended pregnancy and maternal mortality, coupled with the stalling of fertility in several developing countries, have led to a growing call for a renewed effort to bring to the forefront again one of the most cost-effective interventions in the reproductive health, namely contraceptive services, which has fallen into relative neglect over the past decade. Recent efforts to promote renewed interest in contraceptive use include examining the costs and benefits of family planning to demonstrate its efficacy. Using methodology developed by the Guttmacher Institute[1] and recent data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, the Guttmacher Institute and its colleagues as well as relevant information from other sources, including national and international agencies, this paper compares the monetary costs of meeting unmet contraceptive demand with the variety of benefits that would accrue, including reduced maternal morbidity and mortality, reduced infant mortality, averted DALYs and monetary savings to the health-care system.