Increasing Antenatal Care and HIV Testing among Rural Pregnant Women with Conditional Cash Transfers to Self-Help Groups: An Evaluation Study in Rural Mysore, India

Purnima Madhivanan; Bhavana NiranjanKumar; Reshma Shaheen; Poornima Jaykrishna; Kavitha Ravi; Savitha Gowda; Vijaya Srinivas; Anjali Arun; Karl Krupp

doi:10.1155/2013/971458

Increasing Antenatal Care and HIV Testing among Rural Pregnant Women with Conditional Cash Transfers to Self-Help Groups: An Evaluation Study in Rural Mysore, India

J Sex Transm Dis. 2013:2013:971458. doi: 10.1155/2013/971458. Epub 2013 Sep 1.

Authors

Purnima Madhivanan¹, Bhavana NiranjanKumar², Reshma Shaheen², Poornima Jaykrishna², Kavitha Ravi², Savitha Gowda², Vijaya Srinivas², Anjali Arun², Karl Krupp³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8 Street, HLS 390W2, Miami, FL 33199, USA ; Public Health Research Institute of India, 89/B, 2nd Cross, 2nd Main, Yadavgiri, Mysore 560021, India.
² Public Health Research Institute of India, 89/B, 2nd Cross, 2nd Main, Yadavgiri, Mysore 560021, India.
³ Public Health Research Institute of India, 89/B, 2nd Cross, 2nd Main, Yadavgiri, Mysore 560021, India ; Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, 11200 SW 8 Street, HLS 390W2, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

Abstract

Background. We describe a one-year evaluation study comparing SCIL intervention of mobile provision of integrated ANC/ HIV testing with an enhanced (SCIL+) intervention of community mobilization strategy providing conditional cash transfers (CCT) to women's SHG for identifying and accompanying pregnant women to mobile clinics. Methods. Twenty pairs of villages matched on population, socioeconomic status, access to medical facilities, and distance from Mysore city were divided between SCIL and SCIL+ interventions. The primary study outcome was the proportion of total pregnancies in these villages who received ANC and HIV testing. Results. Between April 2011 and March 2012, 552 pregnant women participated in SCIL or SCIL+ interventions. Among women who were pregnant at the time of intervention delivery, 181 of 418 (43.3%) women pregnant at the time of intervention delivery received ANC in the SCIL arm, while 371 of 512 (72.5%) received ANC in the SCIL+ arm (P < 0.001); 175 (97%) in the SCIL and 366 (98.6%) in the SCIL+ arm consented to HIV testing (P < 0.001). HIV prevalence of 0.6% was detected among SCIL clinic, and 0.9% among attending SCIL+ clinic attendees. Conclusion. Provision of CCT to women's microeconomic SHG appears to significantly increase uptake of ANC/HIV testing services in rural Mysore villages.