Reducing MDG Costs through Family Planning in Burkina Faso

For Burkina Faso and many other developing countries, achieving the goals by 2015 is a major challenge. A key factor contributing to the challenge is continued rapid population growth. Ever-increasing numbers of people will need health, education, and other services, requiring more funds, personnel, and systems to meet the MDGs. Thus, development efforts in support of achieving the MDGs should not overlook the importance and benefits of slowing population growth. Reducing MDG costs is crucial, and large family size, coupled with more children surviving into adulthood, are the major factors driving population growth. In Burkina Faso, women have an average of 5.8 children each, and more than one in four (29%) married women ages 15-49 want to space or limit births but are not currently using any method of family planning. If these women had greater access to family planning services, their unmet need for FP could be met, resulting in fewer births and thus slowing population growth and reducing the costs of meeting the MDGs. This analysis estimated the extent of the cost savings for programs addressing five of the eight MDGs: achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, ensuring environmental sustainability, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. Costs were calculated under two scenarios: when unmet need for FP remains constant, and when all unmet need is gradually met by 2030. Based on this analysis, Burkina Faso could achieve considerable cost savings in meeting the five MDGs. By satisfying the unmet need for FP, the savings in reduced funding to meet the five MDGs would outweigh the additional costs of family planning by a factor of 4 to 1. The analysis shows that addressing unmet need for FP in Burkina Faso could be expected to save US$48.7 million in maternal and child health costs between 2010 and 2020. Furthermore, this investment in family planning would avert an estimated 1,409 maternal deaths and 118,756 child deaths between 2010 and 2020. Additionally, the cumulative cost savings to the education sector from satisfying unmet need amount to US$6 million between 2010 and 2020. Providing family planning services to families wishing to space and limit their births can reduce the costs of meeting the MDGs and directly contribute to fewer maternal and child deaths.