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Report

Impact of conditional cash transfers on routine childhood immunizations

This report shares recommendations based on evidence from North West Nigeria.

12 November 2020

New Incentives – All Babies Are Equal Initiative (NI-ABAE) uses conditional cash transfers (CCTs) to increase vaccination rates in North West Nigeria. NI-ABAE educates caregivers about the importance of vaccinating children and disburses cash incentives that are conditional on infants receiving each of four life- saving vaccines. These vaccinations are part of the routine schedule of infant immunization in Nigeria and are provided for free at government clinics. Caregivers can receive up to 4,000 Naira ($11) if the infant receives all doses in the routine immunization (RI) schedule. The program was evaluated by a randomized control trial (RCT) from July 2017 until late February 2020. The goal of this evaluation was to measure the impact of NI-ABAE’s CCTs for RI Program on coverage for routine childhood vaccines in North West Nigeria.

Enumerator Ruqayya Ahmada Sani and respondent Hussaina Lawal during a household listing in Jigawa State, Nigeria. ©IDinsight/ Sarah Carson

Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Routine Childhood Immunizations - 3 MB

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Summary of recommendations

• We recommend that policymakers in Nigeria consider expanding access to CCTs for routine childhood immunization as a complement to other demand-side and supply-side programs in regions that have low immunization coverage.
• Additional research is needed to assess the indirect effects of CCTs for routine immunizations on economic empowerment and health decision-making, the long-term effects of CCTs on health service delivery, and sustained effects after phasing out incentives.