Combining Social Marketing and Community-Based Distribution to Increase Access to Injectable Contraceptives

Ashley Fraser, University of California, Berkeley
Karen Weidert, University of California, Berkeley

The purpose of this paper is to explore strategies that would expand social marketing into rural areas by using CBD workers as social marketing agents. We use data from a community-based access to injectable contraceptives intervention, including information on the willingness to pay for injectables. We conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the intervention. We model the cost of training, monitoring and supervision and seed money for each CBD worker as a start up for her business against potential increase in contraceptive use, method mix, and continuation rates. We consider the acceptability of the intervention by the women and the potential revenue for the CBD workers in the success of this intervention. Results show that contraceptive prevalence could be increased using this approach. With training, CBD workers could serve as social marketing agents, by including injectables in the contraceptive method mix that they offer alongside pills and condoms