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Saving Neonatal Lives for a Quarter

Author

Listed:
  • Valente, Christine

    (University of Bristol)

  • Sievertsen, Hans Henrik

    (University of Bristol)

  • Puri, Mahesh C.

    (Center for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities)

Abstract

Over 400,000 children die annually from neonatal sepsis, despite several RCTs finding that this can be prevented by chlorhexidine cord care (CHX) for only US$0.23 per dose. Unresolved heterogeneity in findings and other RCT scalability concerns contribute to slow CHX adoption. Studying the first national CHX roll-out — in Nepal — we find that CHX reduces neonatal mortality by 56 percent for births predicted to take place at home. We find no effect for predicted health facility births, which is consistent with heterogeneity in prior experimental estimates. Conditional on predicted place of delivery, there is little significant treatment effect heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Valente, Christine & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Puri, Mahesh C., 2020. "Saving Neonatal Lives for a Quarter," IZA Discussion Papers 13719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13719
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    chlorhexidine; neonatal mortality; Nepal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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