World Development Report 1984

Box 7.7 Military versus social expenditure
\Iitir. vFn,nding Il; n :a4% I.. me.-urE E'4penditures on detense eduaation, and %erar e go%ernrmeni per capita r%perndilure
l -r 4ha nmate- ihtr- ar- rdic.art that health a- a perrc-niageni lGNIP ' l41i ,n defen,e educartion and health, IeI l
gi-Al'.] rr,dl,ar,% t pendiLiur, In er-n-tantl
Ii xb' Joillar, h34 ri-, tr, I.m j bt tli i m n t;,;- - . li
m.:'r- , I hn har. 1,illi , n the par Ienr'.
tari ThŽ irr,.,ur,I -G:eri in th, drxd.'p ,i iprX
in4 . rid qu.adrupled tr. mn :At, L,IIh.n I El
mvre 'than $I1 .s billi.:n In !,i1l &i.ti
pF.ed *--untri, * penm mtire than 4 Q per -
-nt .5t, P t.n J ene and Iiout II
PtrkeF,r t ,n ., L .N' 'n aid I. t--'cpn.
6.p-irli - n 1r''. th, Linited iart-
Tent n npt r- i it GNP .n deEn-,|
aim', ^Wit'!" bho.rn and 11 ". perCfentl_
ifN 2 b'ili.ni .r .d In Jtt I-p-np-. :Ialun
- ~~~~~~t. .rl.1 L'.. 1.F-. -I , .... 1,1 0. t. 1-.1 .'..1
tr,e. 31m.:-t a. nuJe I; spent .-n kte
a, r edu.:arr,n ;nJ hoalth .rnhn.,d
I-. chirt I
medical backup for providing contraceptives. the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil (a country with some
Although prescription regulations have been liber- state, but no central government, programs), the
alized in nineteen countries, making condoms and proportion is as high as 63 percent.
oral contraceptives available through nonclinical Private spending on family planning services as
suppliers such as pharmacies, the demand for a consequence equals about a fourth of public
IUDs, male and female sterilization, and abortion spending on these services in the developing
can be met only by trained health workers. Very world. In some regions private spending is
few of them work in the private sector. In addition, greater: in Latin America it may in fact be slightly
the cost of providing family planning services is above public spending.
high in rural and marginal urban areas, whereas In urban areas some commercial suppliers may
the ability to pay for commercial services is low. be displaced by publicly subsidized contracep-
Private suppliers cannot appeal to the national tives: half of the initial users of an official program
interest the way governments can to stimulate of oral contraception in Piaui State, Brazil, in 1979
demand for contraception and cannot use commu- had shifted over from the private sector. Yet prinity
institutions and pressures to spread family vate suppliers do benefit from family planning
planning. Finally, the development of private sup- advertising financed by the government. It is probply
is often inhibited by a combination of govern- ably not a coincidence that they flourish in several
ment policies, including price controls; prohibition countries, such as Korea, Mexico, and Thailand, .
of, or tariffs on, the import of contraceptives; and where government strongly supports birth con-'
restrictions on certain kinds of family planning ser- trol.
vices, especially sterilization and abortion in Mus- The activities of private suppliers demonstratelim
and Catholic countries. that many people in developing countries are will-
Despite these constraints, private suppliers pro- ing to pay for contraceptive services. Although
vided more than 20 percent of all family planning charges for publicly subsidized services are usually
services in more than two-thirds of the countries low or nonexistent, data for twenty developing
studied in recent surveys (see Table 7.5). In some countries show that private sector prices can be
countries private suppliers play a major or even high enough to absorb a significant fraction of
dominant role, especially among urban con- household income. The cost of a year's supply of
sumers. In Korea 42 percent of all contraceptive oral contraceptives averaged $25 in 1980, ranging
users are supplied by pharmacies or physicians; in from $5 in Mexico and $6 in Egypt to as much as
150