Table 2 Comparison of MNCH costing tools
From: Lives Saved Tool (LiST) costing: a module to examine costs and prioritize interventions
| Â | LiST Costing | OneHealth Tool | Equist (Equitable Strategies to Save Lives) |
|---|---|---|---|
Main use | Resource allocation decisions for MNCH program | Broad health sector planning; cost and impact analysis for health plans and budgets. | Decision making to reduce mother and child health inequities |
Costing methodology | Ingredients-based for interventions | Ingredients or activity based for interventions, program, and health systems costs | Incremental costing based on Marginal Budgeting for Bottlenecks methods |
Disease scope | Maternal, neonatal, and child health | Sector-wide: RMNCH, HIV, malaria TB, NCDs, user-options to add other areas | Maternal, neonatal, and child health |
User inputs | User must enter coverage targets, either numeric or percentage estimates for program costs; has the option to edit most other entries including treatment inputs and wage information | User must enter coverage targets, program costs, and health system specifications; treatment inputs editable as needed | User designs strategies for reducing inequities in order to view health outcomes and associated costs. Equist calculates coverages based on strategies. |
Access | Free access; open download | Free access; open download | Open access with registration |
Users | National, local and international planners, researchers, MOH, MNCH programs | Policy and planning departments; program managers | Programmers and planners |
Time for implementation | 1–4 weeks, depending on level of customization | 3–6 months | Varies by country |
Software | Spectrum software in Windows | Spectrum software in Windows; data can be copied from other software e.g., Excel. | Web based platform |