From Trial Intervention to Scale-Up: Costs of an Adolescent Sexual Health Program in Mwanza, Tanzania

Abstract

Objective: 

To estimate annual costs of a multifaceted adolescent sexual health intervention in Mwanza, Tanzania, by input (capital and recurrent), component (in-school, community activities, youth-friendly health services, condom distribution), and phase (development, startup, trial implementation, scale-up).

Study Design: 

Financial and economic providers’ costs and intervention outputs were collected to estimate annual total and unit costs (1999–2001). The incremental financial budget projects funding requirements for scale-up within an integrated model.

Results: 

The 3-year economic costs of trial implementation were $879,032, of which ∼70% were for the school-based component. Costs of initial development and startup were relatively substantial (∼21% of total costs); however, annual costs per school child dropped from $16 in 1999 to $10 in 2001. The incremental scale-up cost is ∼1/5 of ward trial implementation running costs.

Conclusions: 

Annual costs can reduce by almost 40% as project implementation matures. When scaled up, only an additional $1.54 is needed per pupil per year to continue the intervention.

In Brief

An economic evaluation of a multifaceted adolescent sexual health intervention in Tanzania estimated annual total and unit costs by project phase, component, and input type.