Social Cash Transfers, Household Risk and HIV Prevention in Kenya

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目将评估肯尼亚政府的孤儿和弱势儿童现金转移计划（CT-OVC）对预防艾滋病毒的影响。这项研究有三个主要目的。首先是继续进行一项独特的社会实验，最初的目的是评估该方案对孤儿和易受感染的赤贫家庭目标群体的一系列贫穷、健康和教育成果的影响。我们将对相同的家庭进行为期4年的跟踪调查，大约13000人和6000名孤儿和易受感染儿童，其中三分之一的人被随机排除在该计划之外，其余的人在2007年开始接受现金补助。第二个目标是评估该方案对青少年艾滋病毒风险的影响，这将通过扩大原始调查工具以包括关于青少年性活动和危险行为的新模块来实现。第三个目标将评估该计划是否影响了成年人的时间偏好，以及时间偏好，主观风险评估和风险规避如何影响参与长期选择行为的倾向，如储蓄，人力资本投资和风险性活动。 公共卫生相关性：在估计的3300万艾滋病毒感染者中，有三分之二生活在撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）。青年人（15-24岁）占撒南非洲所有新感染者的近一半，青年妇女的艾滋病毒流行率比男子高2倍，有时高4-5倍。该项目研究了肯尼亚孤儿和弱势儿童现金转移方案对青少年性活动和艾滋病毒风险的影响。这是第一项评估大规模政府现金转移计划对艾滋病毒预防影响的研究。涉及2200多个家庭的严格实验设计将为现金转移计划的潜力提供新的，可靠的估计，以减少撒哈拉以南非洲年轻人中的艾滋病毒传播。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will assess the impact of the Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphan and Vulnerable Children Program (CT-OVC) on the prevention of HIV. The study has 3 main aims. The first is to continue a unique social experiment initially designed to evaluate the impact of the program on a range of poverty, health and education outcomes among the target group of ultra-poor households with OVC. We will field a 4 year follow-up survey on the same households, approximately 13000 individuals and 6000 OVC, one-third of who were randomized out of the program the remainder who began receiving a cash grant in 2007. The second aim is to assess the impact of the program on HIV risk among adolescents, which will be accomplished by expanding the original survey instrument to include new modules on sexual activity and risky behavior among adolescents. The third aim will assess whether the program has affected time preferences for adults, and how time preferences, subjective risk assessment and risk aversion influence the propensity to engage in choice behavior with long time horizons such as savings, human capital investment and risky sexual activity. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Two-thirds of the estimated 33m people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Young people (age 15-24) account for nearly half of all new infections in SSA and HIV prevalence is 2 and sometimes 4-5 times higher among young women relative to men. This project examines the impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children program on adolescent sexual activity and HIV risk. It is the first study to assess the HIV prevention impact of a large scale government cash transfer program. The rigorous experimental design involving over 2200 households will provide new, robust estimates of the potential for cash transfer programs to reduce HIV transmission among young people in SSA.