Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria

Conditional cash transfer program and child mortality: A cross-sectional analysis nested within the 100 Million Brazilian Cohort

“…Since our evidence is associational, we recognize that causal claims should not be made solely based on our findings. Approaches such as the ones applied by Okeke and Abubakar to a Nigerian CCT [ 12 ] and Barham to Mexico’s Progresa CCT [ 9 ] through randomized experiments are closer to providing all the elements expected for causal inference and impact evaluation. In the context of BFP, however, such experimental designs are not viable due to the program’s characteristics and data availability.…”

“…Among such strategies are conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs, created with the purpose of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty by transferring cash to low-income families as long as they comply with the conditions of investing in their children’s health and education [ 10 ]. Almost all countries in Latin America have CCT programs, and they are also present in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malawi, and Turkey [ 11 , 12 ], sparking interest even in high-income countries, given their impact on social development [ 13 ]. In Brazil, the CCT program, branded as the Bolsa Família program (BFP), was initiated in 2003 and rapidly implemented throughout the country, covering over 13 million families in 2015 and becoming the world’s largest CCT.…”

Effectiveness of conditional cash transfers (Afya credits incentive) to retain women in the continuum of care during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period in Kenya: a cluster-randomised trial

“…In Kenya, a conditional cash transfer intervention in Vihiga County was found to increase facility delivery by 7.9 percentage points. 18 A recent study in Nigeria 19 found that payments for retention from ANC to PNC resulted in more women attending the visits (26% of women in the intervention arm compared with 12% in the control arm), leading to a 22% reduction in the stillbirth rate. Recent systematic reviews on the demand-side interventions for maternal care 20 and on CCTs [21][22][23][24] found increased utilisation of services, but not always better outcomes.…”

“…The CCT aimed at tackling multiple barriers to care, as described in the trial’s protocol 25 : women would receive equal-sized cash transfers following a visit (ANC, delivery at facility, PNC visit and childhood immunisation), as well as a reminder for their visit by text message and medical staff would be trained in the technology and incentivised for each woman they enrolled in the trial. Unlike a study in Nigeria, 19 in Afya, the CCT was done through a card reader system rather than cash and, additionally, it initiated transfers for each individual visit, rather than being conditional on receiving an entire package of care. In this paper, we present the results of the impact of the Afya trial.…”

Social protection and the level and inequality of child mortality in 101 low- and middle-income countries: A statistical modelling analysis

“…Studies investigating CT in Brazil, Mexico, India, Nigeria, and Nepal found no association between CT and neonatal mortality, which is consistent with our study [ 23 - 28 ]. Studies on infant mortality, post-neonatal mortality, and under-5 mortality have been very scarce – two studies in Brazil and Mexico found that CT was associated with a reduction in infant mortality [ 24 , 28 ]; two studies in Brazil and Nigeria showed inconsistent results for post-neonatal mortality [ 25 , 28 ]; only one study included under-5 mortality as outcomes, and found significant association [ 22 ]. Our findings provided new evidence, showing CT was not significantly associated with infant mortality, post-neonatal mortality, and under-5 mortality.…”