title: The promise and limitations of cash transfer programs for HIV prevention.
abstract: As the search for more effective HIV prevention strategies continues, increased attention is being paid to the potential role of cash transfers in prevention programming in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, studies testing the impact of both conditional and unconditional cash transfers on HIV-related behaviours and outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa have been relatively small-scale and their potential feasibility, costs and benefits at scale, among other things, remain largely unexplored. This article examines elements of a successful cash transfer program from Latin America and discusses challenges inherent in scaling-up such programs. The authors attempt a cost simulation of a cash transfer program for HIV prevention in South Africa comparing its cost and relative effectiveness--in number of HIV infections averted--against other prevention interventions. If a cash transfer program were to be taken to scale, the intervention would not have a substantial effect on decreasing the force of the epidemic in middle- and low-income countries. The integration of cash transfer programs into other sectors and linking them to a broader objective such as girls' educational attainment may be one way of addressing doubts raised by the authors regarding their value for HIV prevention.
authors.affiliation: a Regional HIV/AIDS Program, US Agency for International Development , Pretoria , South Africa.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fieno
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leclerc-Madlala
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D012201:Reward; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa
keywords: HIV prevention; HIV/AIDS; cash transfers; cost-effectiveness; sub-Saharan Africa