01968nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001260003400042653001800076653001800094100001500112700001500127700001500142700001200157700001500169700001300184700001400197245014900211520138800360022001401748       2022                            d  bOxford University Press (OUP)10aHealth Policy10aCash transfer1 aNovignon J1 aPrencipe L1 aMolotsky A1 aValli E1 ade Groot R1 aAdamba C1 aPalermo T00aThe Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Morbidity and Health Seeking Behaviour in Africa: Evidence from Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe3 a<p>Unconditional cash transfers have demonstrated widespread, positive impacts on consumption, food security, productive activities, and schooling. However, the evidence to date on cash transfers and health seeking behaviours and morbidity is not only mixed, but the evidence base is biased towards conditional programmes from Latin America and is more limited in the context of Africa. Given contextual and programmatic design differences between the regions, more evidence from Africa is warranted. We investigate the impact of unconditional cash transfers on morbidity and health seeking behaviour using data from experimental and quasi-experimental study designs of five government cash transfer programs in Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Programme impacts were estimated using Difference-in-Differences (DiD) models with longitudinal data. The results indicate positive programme impacts on health seeking when ill and health expenditures. Our findings suggest that while unconditional cash transfers can improve health seeking when ill, morbidity impacts were mixed. More research is needed on longer-term impacts, mechanisms of impact, and moderating factors. Additionally, taken together with existing evidence, our findings suggest that when summarizing the impacts of CTs on health, findings from conditional and unconditional programmes should be disaggregated.</p>
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