The evidence was uncertain for whether UCTs impacted livestock ownership , extreme poverty , participation in child labour , adult employment or parenting quality .
This body of evidence suggests that unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ) may not impact a summary measure of health service use in children and adults in LMICs .
However , UCTs probably or may improve some health outcomes ( i.e. the likelihood of having had any illness , the likelihood of having been food secure , and the level of dietary diversity ) , one social determinant of health ( i.e. the likelihood of attending school ) , and healthcare expenditure .
BACKGROUND Unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ; provided without obligation ) for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities ( e.g. orphanhood , old age or HIV infection ) are a type of social protection intervention that addresses a key social determinant of health ( income ) in low- and middle-income countries ( LMICs ) .
The relative effectiveness of UCTs compared with conditional cash transfers ( CCTs ; provided so long as the recipient engages in prescribed behaviours such as using a health service or attending school ) is unknown .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of UCTs for improving health services use and health outcomes in vulnerable children and adults in LMICs .
Secondary objectives are to assess the effects of UCTs on social determinants of health and healthcare expenditure and to compare to effects of UCTs versus CCTs .
Cash plus care: social protection cumulatively mitigates HIV-risk behaviour among adolescents in South Africa
Objectives : It is not known whether cumulative ‘ cash plus care ’ interventions can reduce  adolescent HIV-infection risks in sub-Saharan Africa . This study investigated whether parental AIDS and other environmental adversities increase  adolescent HIV-risk behaviour  and whether social protection provision of ‘ cash ’ or integrated ‘ cash plus care ’ reduces HIV-risk behaviour . Design : A prospect i ve observational study with r and om sampling ( < 2.5 % baseline refusal , 1-year follow-up , 96.8 % retention ) . Methods : Three thous and five hundred and fifteen 10–18 year-olds ( 56.7 % girls ) were interviewed in South Africa between 2009–2010 and 2011–2012 . All homes with a resident adolescent were sample d , within r and omly selected census areas in two urban and two rural districts in two provinces . Measures included potential environmental risks ( e.g. parental HIV/AIDS , poverty ) , social protection : receipt of cash/food support ( e.g. child grants , school feeding ) , care ( e.g. positive parenting ) and HIV-risk behaviours ( e.g. unprotected sex ) . Analyses used logistic regression . Results : Cash alone was associated with reduced HIV risk for girls [ odds ratio ( OR ) 0.63 ; 95 % confidence interval ( 95 % CI ) 0.44–0.91 , P = 0.02 ] but not for boys . Integrated cash plus care was associated with halved HIV-risk behaviour incidence for both sexes ( girls OR 0.55 ; 95 % CI 0.35–0.85 , P = 0.007 ; boys OR 0.50 ; 95 % CI 0.31–0.82 , P = 0.005 ) , compared with no support and controlling for confounders . Follow-up HIV-risk behaviour was reduced from 41 to 15 % for girls and from 42 to 17 % for boys . Girls in AIDS-affected families and informal-dwelling boys had higher HIV-risk behaviour , but were less likely to access integrated social protection . Conclusion : Integrated cash plus care reduces  male and female adolescent HIV-risk behaviours . Increasing adolescent access to social protection may be an effective HIV prevention strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa
The evidence was uncertain for whether UCTs impacted livestock ownership , extreme poverty , participation in child labour , adult employment or parenting quality .
This body of evidence suggests that unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ) may not impact a summary measure of health service use in children and adults in LMICs .
However , UCTs probably or may improve some health outcomes ( i.e. the likelihood of having had any illness , the likelihood of having been food secure , and the level of dietary diversity ) , one social determinant of health ( i.e. the likelihood of attending school ) , and healthcare expenditure .
BACKGROUND Unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ; provided without obligation ) for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities ( e.g. orphanhood , old age or HIV infection ) are a type of social protection intervention that addresses a key social determinant of health ( income ) in low- and middle-income countries ( LMICs ) .
The relative effectiveness of UCTs compared with conditional cash transfers ( CCTs ; provided so long as the recipient engages in prescribed behaviours such as using a health service or attending school ) is unknown .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of UCTs for improving health services use and health outcomes in vulnerable children and adults in LMICs .
Secondary objectives are to assess the effects of UCTs on social determinants of health and healthcare expenditure and to compare to effects of UCTs versus CCTs .