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Introduction Mali and Benin introduced a user feeexemption policy focused on caesarean sections in 2005and 2009, respectively. The objective of this study is toassess the impact of this policy on service utilisation andneonatal outcomes. We focus specifically on whether thepolicy differentially impacts women by education level,zone of residence and wealth quintile of the household.Methods We use a difference-in-differences approachusing two other western African countries with no feeexemption policies as the comparison group (Cameroonand Nigeria). Data were extracted from Demographic andHealth Surveys over four periods between the early 1990sand the early 2000s. We assess the impact of the policy onthree outcomes: caesarean delivery, facility-based deliveryand neonatal mortality.Results We analyse 99 800 childbirths. The freecaesarean policy had a positive impact on caesareansection rates (adjusted OR=1.36 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.66;P≤0.01), particularly in non-educated women (adjustedOR=2.71; 95% CI 1.70 to 4.32; P≤0.001), those livingin rural areas (adjusted OR=2.02; 95% CI 1.48 to 2.76;P≤0.001) and women in the middle-class wealth index(adjusted OR=3.88; 95% CI 1.77 to 4.72; P≤0.001). Thepolicy contributes to the increase in the proportion offacility-based delivery (adjusted OR=1.68; 95% CI 1.48 to1.89; P≤0.001) and may also contribute to the decreaseof neonatal mortality (adjusted OR=0.70; 95% CI 0.58 to0.85; P≤0.001).Conclusion This study is the first to evaluate the impactof a user fee exemption policy focused on caesareansections on maternal and child health outcomes withrobust methods. It provides evidence that eliminating feesfor caesareans benefits both women and neonates in sub-Saharan countries. International audience

Background A national subsidy policy was introduced in 2007 in Burkina Faso to improve financial accessibility to facility-based delivery. In this article, we estimated the effects of reducing user fees on institutional delivery and neonatal mortality, immediately and three years after the introduction of the policy. Methods The study was based on a quasi-experimental design. We used data obtained from the 2010 Demographic and Health Survey, including survival information for 32,102 live-born infants born to 12,474 women. We used a multilevel Poisson regression model with robust variances to control for secular trends in outcomes between the period before the introduction of the policy (1 January, 2007) and the period after. In sensitivity analyses, we used two different models according to the different definitions of the period “before” and the period “after”. Results Immediately following its introduction, the subsidy policy was associated with increases in institutional deliveries by 4% (RR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.98–1.10) in urban areas and by 12% (RR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.20) in rural areas. The results showed similar patterns in sensitivity analyses. This effect was particularly marked among rural clusters with low institutional delivery rates at baseline (RR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.33–1.55). It was persistent for 42 months after the introduction of the policy but these increases were not statistically significant. At 42 months, the delivery rates had increased by 26% in rural areas (RR = 1.26; 95% CI: 0.86–1.86) and 13% (RR = 1.13; 95% CI: 0.88–1.46) in urban areas. There was no evidence of a significant decrease in neonatal mortality rates. Conclusion The delivery subsidy implemented in Burkina Faso is associated with short-term increases in health facility deliveries. This policy has been particularly beneficial for rural households.