Yale University

PEPFAR Funding in Kenya Associated with Decreased Infant Mortality, Study Finds

Through the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States contributed over $248 million to programs in Kenya between 2004 and 2014, and at the same time, the incidence of child mortality dropped sharply. But childhood mortality rates also dropped during the same period in many other sub-Saharan countries that did not receive PEPFAR funding. Until now, it had been unknown whether - or by how much - the significant investment actually improved health outcomes and survival rates.

New research by a team of scientists at Yale and Harvard evaluated whether PEPFAR's heavy investments in a Kenyan program to train expecting mothers in HIV prevention in more than 10,000 clinics contributed to reduced child mortality. They determined the funding was a significant determinant of the observed mortality drop.

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Published: Sunday, August 12, 2018