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Persistence and heterogeneity of the effects of educating mothers to improve child immunisation uptake: Experimental evidence from Uttar Pradesh in India

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  • O'Neill, Stephen
  • Grieve, Richard
  • Singh, Kultar
  • Dutt, Varun
  • Powell-Jackson, Timothy

Abstract

Childhood vaccinations are among the most cost-effective health interventions. Yet, in India, where immunisation services are widely available free of charge, a substantial proportion of children remain unvaccinated. We revisit households 30 months after a randomised experiment of a health information intervention designed to educate mothers on the benefits of child vaccination in Uttar Pradesh, India. We find that the large short-term effects on the uptake of diphtheria–pertussis–tetanus and measles vaccination were sustained at 30 months, suggesting the intervention did not simply bring forward vaccinations. We apply causal forests and find that the intervention increased vaccination uptake, but that there was substantial variation in the magnitude of the estimated effects. We conclude that characterising those who benefited most and conversely those who benefited least provides policy-makers with insights on how the intervention worked, and how the targeting of households could be improved.

Suggested Citation

  • O'Neill, Stephen & Grieve, Richard & Singh, Kultar & Dutt, Varun & Powell-Jackson, Timothy, 2024. "Persistence and heterogeneity of the effects of educating mothers to improve child immunisation uptake: Experimental evidence from Uttar Pradesh in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:96:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000444
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102899
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vaccination; Randomised controlled trial; Heterogeneity machine learning; Causal forest;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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