An Analysis of Unit Costs in Selected Condom Social Marketing Programs, 1990–1996

In: Social marketing quarterly: SMQ ; journal of the AED, Band 6, Heft 4, S. 8-16

Abstract

Condom social marketing has become central to Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) prevention programs around the world. Excluding the large family planning-oriented social marketing programs of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India (which accounted for over 500 million condoms in 1996), sales of socially marketed condoms increased more than sixfold from 49 million condoms (in 30 countries) in 1991 to 312 million condoms (in 54 countries) by 1996 (Gardner, Blackburn, & Upadhyay, 1999). This study aims to fill the gap in information about condom social marketing costs. In the field of family planning, considerable effort has been put into analyzing costs per couple-year of protection (CYP) for social marketing and other service delivery approaches (Barberis & Harvey, 1997; Stover & Wagman, 1992). The cost of condom social marketing has yet to be analyzed independently of the cost per CYP of contraceptive social marketing. The cost per condom sold in condom social marketing programs should be analyzed independently for two reasons. First, CYP is a measure designed to aggregate multiple contraceptive methods and therefore is not appropriate for programs that only market condoms. Second, a thorough understanding of the unit costs in condom social marketing is an essential prerequisite to attempting to base AIDS prevention strategies on a rational allocation of resources (World Bank, 1997). The purpose of this study is to contribute toward an increased understanding of condom social marketing costs. Ultimately, this improved understanding may facilitate a more rational allocation of AIDS resources.