The impact of condom prices on sales in social marketing programs

The issue of pricing contraceptives in family planning programs is becoming more and more important. What is the relationship between consumer prices and demand, and how can we strike the correct balance between the two? This report examines the correlation between consumer prices for condoms, expressed as a percentage of per-capita gross national product, and per-capita sales of condoms in 24 social marketing programs. The correlation that emerges is strong and negative: Even when the data are controlled for age of program and other independent variables, there is a clear negative correlation between prices and contraceptive sales in these programs. The conclusion is clear that condom prices must be set very low--well below the equivalent of 1 percent of per-capita gross national product for a year's supply--in order to achieve satisfactory prevalence for condoms in either a family-planning or an AIDS-prevention context.