A major challenge to safe motherhood is undernourishment in India. As per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), more than half of the Indian women of reproductive age are malnourished. These deficiencies hamper the growth of the child, cause...

There has been a rise in the incidence of malnutrition in India between 2018 and 2019. The pandemic has made matters worse, putting those already vulnerable at most risk. The main objective of this project is to understand whether raising awareness among...

Severe malnutrition, especially amongst children, has been a persistent problem in India. With 14% of children undernourished, 34.7% stunted and 17.3% children wasted, India is home to the most wasted children out of all the countries assessed. Against the...

Arsenic consumption via water sources can lead to fatal health and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Children are more susceptible to arsenic because of their lower immunity and relatively higher proportion of body water compared to adults. Moreover, evidence...

What is the most effective way to conduct phone-based information campaigns to improve health behaviors critical to containing a pandemic? Researchers will conduct an adaptive randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an SMS-based information...

In this study, the researchers will investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the various demand and supply-side factors relating to maternal and child health services, and consequently, child malnutrition. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying...

This project will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and wellbeing of primary school-aged children in India. The researchers will take advantage of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) conducted by Pratham between 2018 and 2019 across...

Covid-19 and the associated lockdowns have had severe negative impacts on earnings among the poor, who have limited savings available to navigate the crisis. The resulting stress and anxiety, along with health concerns and social isolation due to physical...

Local community health centers (“Janta Clinics” in Rajasthan), which serve as the first point of contact for patients by offering a basic high-quality package of primary healthcare services (consultations, diagnostic testing, and medicines) for free, have...

The Government of Rajasthan (GoR) launched the BSBY program 4 years ago to increase equity in health care access, utilization, and outcomes. The program pays hospitals to provide free secondary and tertiary care to poor households. Analyses of administrative...

Appropriately targeted cash transfers can improve the health of millions of children in developing countries, but limited information about available transfers, coupled with inefficient delivery systems, constrain the reach and impact of many programs. As...

The Government of Rajasthan (GoR) launched the BSBY program in 2015 to increase equity in health care access, utilization, and outcomes. The program pays hospitals to provide free secondary and tertiary care to poor households. Thanks to a strong partnership...

Agricultural practices that increase farmers’ productivity are sometimes accompanied by negative environmental externalities, with consequences for human health. One example is the rise in crop residue burning after mechanized harvesting was adopted in many...

In an attempt to improve health and nutrition outcomes among both pregnant women and lactating mothers (PW&LM) and infant children, the Government of India (GoI) launched the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) in 2017 to provide a conditional cash...

Gujarat has in recent years experienced significant improvements across a number of key health indicators from NFHS-3 to 4. However, large gaps remain especially in the take-up of maternal and child health services. As an example, in Gujarat only 24% of...

Despite a significant increase in vaccine coverage in India, more than 20% of child deaths in 2008 were caused by three vaccine-preventable diseases alone. A major underlying factor behind these deaths is lack of vaccine effectiveness caused by delays in...

Stubble burning (burning of fields to remove crop residue after harvest) each November in Punjab contributes to New Delhi’s high air pollution and to local air pollution in Punjab. Respiratory problems among children are one major cost of this practice. To...

In an attempt to improve health and nutrition outcomes among both pregnant women and lactating mothers (PW&LM) and children under 5 (U5), the Government of India (GoI) launched the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) in 2017 to provide a conditional...

This study will evaluate whether framed, unconditional cash transfers (UCT) to pregnant women and lactating mothers improve the health of their children, as measured by incidence of stunting and wasting. This will be the first randomized evaluation in India of...

Adolescent pregnancy remains a major determinant of maternal and child mortality and morbidity globally, with pregnancy and childbirth complication the leading cause of death among 15-19 year-old girls. In Haryana, the proposed state for this study, 19% of 20...

In India, programs that promote early childhood development are delivered primarily by Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) through anganwadi centers (AWCs) staffed by anganwadi workers (AWWs). ICDS overall and AWCs in particular are under-resourced...

Although child health in India has improved over the last decade, many outcomes remain shockingly poor: in the context of our study, 45% of children under five are stunted and 29% are wasted. One promising intervention for improving child health is making...

The team’s research aimed to (a) learn about current deficiencies in maternal and newborn health in Delhi and (b) understand barriers, both social and institutional, to improving outcomes. This work aimed to inform the design of a full evaluation of a planned...