Abstract
The aim of this study is to assess whether the Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Kenya CT-OVC) can reduce the risk of HIV among young people by postponing sexual debut. The program provides an unconditional transfer of US$20 per month directly to the main caregiver in the household. An evaluation of the program was implemented in 2007–2009 in seven districts. Fourteen Locations were randomly assigned to receive the program and fourteen were assigned to a control arm. A sample of households was enrolled in the evaluation in 2007. We revisited these households in 2011 and collected information on sexual activity among individuals between 15–25 years of age. We used logistic regression, adjusted for the respondent's age, sex and relationship to caregiver, the age, sex and schooling of the caregiver and whether or not the household lived in Nairobi at baseline, to compare rates of sexual debut among young people living in program households with those living in control households who had not yet entered the program. Our results, adjusted for these covariates, show that the program reduced the odds of sexual debut by 31 percent. There were no statistically significant effects on secondary outcomes of behavioral risk such as condom use, number of partners and transactional sex. Since the CT-OVC provides cash to the caregiver and not to the child, and there are no explicit conditions associated with receipt, these impacts are indirect, and may have been achieved by keeping young people in school. Our results suggest that large-scale national social cash transfer programs with poverty alleviation objectives may have potential positive spillover benefits in terms of reducing HIV risk among young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Highlights
There is growing interest in the possibility of addressing HIV prevention in Africa by providing cash transfers to at-risk population groups [1]
All behaviors appear to be more protective among the treatment group, though none are statistically different from the control group except for sexual debut
We find that the sexual debut proportion is 5 percentage points lower in the DHS sample compared to our sample, which we believe is in the expected range given that our study protocols and instruments are similar to DHS but our study sample represents a potentially high risk group due to their unique demographic structure
Summary
There is growing interest in the possibility of addressing HIV prevention in Africa by providing cash transfers to at-risk population groups [1]. Almost all countries (n = 14) in Eastern & Southern Africa (ESA) have large-scale government cash transfer programs that target poor and vulnerable households, and are driven by poverty alleviation objectives rather than HIV prevention. These programs provide unconditional cash transfers meaning that they do not include conditions related to behavioral change in order for eligible households to receive payments. This raises the question about whether the existing evidence on the HIV prevention effects of cash transfers can be generalized to large-scale, government-run cash transfer programs currently operating in the region
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
