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Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon

Received: 1 July 2021    Accepted: 20 July 2021    Published: 2 August 2021
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Abstract

Background: In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new antenatal care guidelines recommending an increase from four visits during pregnancy to eight contacts with skilled personnel, among other recommendations. Currently there are ongoing discussions in respect to the cost implications and potential outcomes countries can anticipate, if they make this move. Cameroon has adopted the new recommendation without analysis of the cost implication. Notwithstanding, it is imperative to investigate if pregnant women are willing to make this change, the cost implications of such changes, and if pregnant women will be willing to pay the extra cost. This study sets out to find out women’s preferred number of antenatal visits, their willingness to pay for antenatal visits and to perform a cost- benefit analysis of 4 and 8 visits in Bamenda Health District (BHD). Method: An exit interview was conducted using a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire with women attending antenatal clinic in some 14 health facilities in BHD. The health facilities were chosen purposively. A total of 396 women were interviewed. Results: Our results revealed that 177 (44.7%) of the women preferred 4 antenatal care visits while 174 (43.9%) preferred 8 antenatal care visits and 45 (11.4%) preferred more than 8 antenatal visits. The extra cost for 4 and 8 visits was 10,390FCFA. The average willingness -to –pay (WTP) for 4 extra visits was calculated to be 2,209FCFA. Conclusion: Although women preferred a model of antenatal care (ANC) with 8 or more ANC contacts, they were not willing to pay for the contacts, thus it is recommended that the 4 visits model be implemented in the Bamenda Health District.

Published in International Journal of Health Economics and Policy (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11
Page(s) 79-84
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cost, Benefit, Four ANC Visits, Eight ANC Visits, ANC Visit, Cameroon

References
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  • APA Style

    Eyvonne Ngequih Tumasang, Robinson Mbu, Wilfred Mbacham. (2021). Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon. International Journal of Health Economics and Policy, 6(3), 79-84. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11

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    ACS Style

    Eyvonne Ngequih Tumasang; Robinson Mbu; Wilfred Mbacham. Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon. Int. J. Health Econ. Policy 2021, 6(3), 79-84. doi: 10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11

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    AMA Style

    Eyvonne Ngequih Tumasang, Robinson Mbu, Wilfred Mbacham. Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon. Int J Health Econ Policy. 2021;6(3):79-84. doi: 10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11,
      author = {Eyvonne Ngequih Tumasang and Robinson Mbu and Wilfred Mbacham},
      title = {Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon},
      journal = {International Journal of Health Economics and Policy},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {79-84},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hep.20210603.11},
      abstract = {Background: In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new antenatal care guidelines recommending an increase from four visits during pregnancy to eight contacts with skilled personnel, among other recommendations. Currently there are ongoing discussions in respect to the cost implications and potential outcomes countries can anticipate, if they make this move. Cameroon has adopted the new recommendation without analysis of the cost implication. Notwithstanding, it is imperative to investigate if pregnant women are willing to make this change, the cost implications of such changes, and if pregnant women will be willing to pay the extra cost. This study sets out to find out women’s preferred number of antenatal visits, their willingness to pay for antenatal visits and to perform a cost- benefit analysis of 4 and 8 visits in Bamenda Health District (BHD). Method: An exit interview was conducted using a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire with women attending antenatal clinic in some 14 health facilities in BHD. The health facilities were chosen purposively. A total of 396 women were interviewed. Results: Our results revealed that 177 (44.7%) of the women preferred 4 antenatal care visits while 174 (43.9%) preferred 8 antenatal care visits and 45 (11.4%) preferred more than 8 antenatal visits. The extra cost for 4 and 8 visits was 10,390FCFA. The average willingness -to –pay (WTP) for 4 extra visits was calculated to be 2,209FCFA. Conclusion: Although women preferred a model of antenatal care (ANC) with 8 or more ANC contacts, they were not willing to pay for the contacts, thus it is recommended that the 4 visits model be implemented in the Bamenda Health District.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Cost Benefit Analysis of Four and Eight Antenatal Care Visits in Bamenda Health District, Cameroon
    AU  - Eyvonne Ngequih Tumasang
    AU  - Robinson Mbu
    AU  - Wilfred Mbacham
    Y1  - 2021/08/02
    PY  - 2021
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    JF  - International Journal of Health Economics and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Health Economics and Policy
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    SN  - 2578-9309
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20210603.11
    AB  - Background: In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new antenatal care guidelines recommending an increase from four visits during pregnancy to eight contacts with skilled personnel, among other recommendations. Currently there are ongoing discussions in respect to the cost implications and potential outcomes countries can anticipate, if they make this move. Cameroon has adopted the new recommendation without analysis of the cost implication. Notwithstanding, it is imperative to investigate if pregnant women are willing to make this change, the cost implications of such changes, and if pregnant women will be willing to pay the extra cost. This study sets out to find out women’s preferred number of antenatal visits, their willingness to pay for antenatal visits and to perform a cost- benefit analysis of 4 and 8 visits in Bamenda Health District (BHD). Method: An exit interview was conducted using a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire with women attending antenatal clinic in some 14 health facilities in BHD. The health facilities were chosen purposively. A total of 396 women were interviewed. Results: Our results revealed that 177 (44.7%) of the women preferred 4 antenatal care visits while 174 (43.9%) preferred 8 antenatal care visits and 45 (11.4%) preferred more than 8 antenatal visits. The extra cost for 4 and 8 visits was 10,390FCFA. The average willingness -to –pay (WTP) for 4 extra visits was calculated to be 2,209FCFA. Conclusion: Although women preferred a model of antenatal care (ANC) with 8 or more ANC contacts, they were not willing to pay for the contacts, thus it is recommended that the 4 visits model be implemented in the Bamenda Health District.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Health Economics Policy and Management, Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda, Cameroon

  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon

  • The Biotechnology Centre, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon

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