Financing gaps for Pakistan's contraceptive prevalence goals: Analyses using the Guttmacher adding-it-up methodology.

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Health Economics
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Family planning services are crucial for reproductive health outcomes in Pakistan.
• Achieving national and FP2030 goals requires significant increases in contraceptive prevalence.
• Current financing levels may not adequately support these ambitious targets.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify family planning financing levels and gaps in Pakistan.
• To assess if current funding is sufficient to meet national and FP2030 goals.
• To analyze trends in family planning expenditures from 2017 to 2021.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Guttmacher global Adding-It-Up methodology for cost estimation.
• Estimated national and provincial costs based on the Essential Services Package and WHO/UNFPA costing.
• Analyzed expenditure trends between 2017 and 2021.

Main Results:

• The estimated cost of family planning services in 2017 was US$81 million ($0.38 per capita).
• A financing gap of US$93 million was identified to meet the needs of 8.6 million women.
• Government expenditure showed a slow and uneven upward trend between 2017-2021.

Conclusions:

• Financing for contraceptive services in Pakistan remains persistently inadequate.
• Current funding levels are insufficient to achieve the FP2030 goal of 60% contraceptive prevalence.
• A doubling of funding is required, with a focus on women with unmet needs to improve equity.