Unconditional cash transfers for assistance in humanitarian disasters: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries
Additional high-quality evidence is required to reach clear conclusions regarding the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfers for improving the use of health services and health outcomes in disaster contexts in low and middle-income countries.
Unconditional cash transfers (provided without obligation) may improve health by giving recipients additional income in disaster contexts. Three studies have examined the effect of five such cash transfers on the use of health services and/or health outcomes. Depending on the specific health services use and health outcomes examined, these studies either reported no evidence that the cash transfers had impacted the outcome or that unconditional cash transfers improved the outcome. However, additional high-quality evidence (especially RCTs of humanitarian disaster contexts other than droughts) is required to reach clear conclusions.
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