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Health Financing in Ghana: Willingness to Pay Increased Prices for Reproductive Health Products and Services in Ghana

Limited government and donor resources, as well as the need to serve ever-increasing reproductive health (RH) needs, dictate that the partners for reproductive health in Ghana — the Ministry of Health, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, and the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation — find new ways to increase sustainability and expand financial resources. One way to increase sustainability is to improve cost recovery by increasing prices for RH products and services. This report is based on data collected from client intercept surveys to determine the willingness to pay more for RH products and services among men and women. For almost all products, more than 75 percent of clients say they are willing to pay at least 50 percent more than they are currently paying. The report also addresses the question of what would happen if prices increased too much for clients be able to afford their current family planning product. The results indicate that fewer than 10 percent of current clients would stop using family planning. The majority said they would seek a cheaper brand at their current source of supply or try to find a cheaper source for the same brand. The author concluded that there is adequate room for marketers and policymakers to increase prices for all classes of family planning products in Ghana.