Perspective: What will it cost to scale-up breastfeeding programs? A comparison of current global costing methodologies

Abstract

Breastfeeding is one of the most feasible and cost-effective maternal-child health interventions. Currently, global investments needed to achieve the WHO global nutrition target for exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) do not meet the recommended standards for economic investment and implementation of policies supporting mothers to breastfeed. Estimating implementation costs of high-quality, high-impact programs based on each country's enabling environment and specific context is essential for developing and prioritizing recommendations that can drive the successful scaling-up of breastfeeding programs globally.We provide a detailed comparison (strengths, limitations, and gaps) of the 2 most recent global cost analysis frameworks used to estimate financial needs for scaling-up breastfeeding interventions fromWorld Breastfeeding Costing Initiative (WBCi) and the World Bank. Our comparison found that the World Bank presents the more advanced costing methodology for scaling-up breastfeeding programs. However, there is a need to adapt and improve this costing framework to guide individual countries based on key contextual factors that consider the complexity of health systems.