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2066. Cost-effectiveness of a menstrual hygiene program in rural India
Invited abstract in session WA-18: OR for Medical Services in Developing Countries, stream OR for Development and Developing Countries.
Wednesday, 8:30-10:00Room: 42 (building: 116)
Authors (first author is the speaker)
| 1. | Merin Mathew
|
| Mathematics, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 2. | Malavika Krishnakumar
|
| Health Sciences Research, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 3. | Radhika Menon
|
| Center for Research in Analytics, Technologies & Education, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 4. | Sreesankar Ajayan
|
| Center for Research in Analytics, Technologies & Education, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 5. | Raghu Raman
|
| Center for Research in Analytics, Technologies & Education, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 6. | Prema Nedungadi
|
| Center for Research in Analytics, Technologies & Education, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham | |
| 7. | Georg Gutjahr
|
| Department of Health Science Research, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Center, Kochi, Kerala, India |
Abstract
Improving menstrual hygiene and reproductive health is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Intervention programs target girls in developing countries and provide them with knowledge and material to manage menstruation. This paper considers the cost-effectiveness of such programs with a case study from a rural area in Madhya Pradesh, India. A sequence of maximal-covering location problems (MCLPs) was solved to select a set of villages as optimal locations to conduct multiple interventions in the study area. Pre- and Post-surveys with participants are used to estimate the proportion of girls who adopted safe and hygienic menstrual practices. Interviews with 528 adolescent girls from nearby villages are employed in a diffusion model to estimate the indirect reach of the intervention across the neighboring villages. Health benefits are measured in terms of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). The cost-effectiveness ratio of a menstruation intervention is estimated to be about $28.5 per DALY. These programs also provide additional benefits such as an increase in awareness, a reduction in school absenteeism, and an increase in the self-confidence of girls.
Keywords
- Health Care
- Facilities Planning and Design
- Developing Countries
Status: accepted
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