Resource Type: Report
Authors: Health Finance and Governance (HFG)
Published: 3/1/2013

Resource Description:

The NGO Health Service Delivery Project (NHSDP) is the newest iteration of USAID/Bangladesh’s long-standing support to NGO service providers to deliver quality, high-impact services to the poor and underserved populations. Pathfinder International is the new program’s prime contractor. The previous project was called the Smiling Sun Franchise Program (SSFP). The Smiling Sun NGO network is made up of 27 NGOs with 325 static clinics and 8,838 satellite areas across 64 districts. An impact evaluation of the SSFP highlighted the difficulties of reaching contradictory objectives of high cost recovery and a high share of clients coming from the poor (and thus getting free services) or underserved. USAID/Bangladesh wishes to understand how price increases at Smiling Sun health facilities may have affected service utilization in order to inform future decisions about price levels. In this paper, HFG analyzes longitudinal utilization data to attempt to estimate the price elasticity of demand for these health services.