Executive summary: Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) groups for maternal and newborn health, where women develop local strategies to improve outcomes, are a promising intervention for a new nonprofit to implement and scale up in sub-Saharan Africa.
Key points:
PLA groups have strong evidence of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, with a meta-analysis showing 20% reduction in neonatal mortality and 23% reduction in maternal mortality.
The intervention is neglected, with few organizations working on it at scale besides Women and Children First.
A cost-effectiveness analysis estimates the intervention could save a life for $994-$1,821 in Sierra Leone, $535-$961 in Nigeria, and $1,190-$2,315 in Guinea.
Key uncertainties include finding trusted facilitators, effectively recruiting pregnant women, running the intervention at sufficiently low cost, and external validity outside South Asia.
Potential positive externalities beyond mortality reduction include female empowerment, contraceptive use, economic benefits, and adaptation to other issues like gender-based violence.
Implementation would involve recruiting and training facilitators, attracting participants, monitoring and evaluation, and government engagement.
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Executive summary: Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) groups for maternal and newborn health, where women develop local strategies to improve outcomes, are a promising intervention for a new nonprofit to implement and scale up in sub-Saharan Africa.
Key points:
PLA groups have strong evidence of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, with a meta-analysis showing 20% reduction in neonatal mortality and 23% reduction in maternal mortality.
The intervention is neglected, with few organizations working on it at scale besides Women and Children First.
A cost-effectiveness analysis estimates the intervention could save a life for $994-$1,821 in Sierra Leone, $535-$961 in Nigeria, and $1,190-$2,315 in Guinea.
Key uncertainties include finding trusted facilitators, effectively recruiting pregnant women, running the intervention at sufficiently low cost, and external validity outside South Asia.
Potential positive externalities beyond mortality reduction include female empowerment, contraceptive use, economic benefits, and adaptation to other issues like gender-based violence.
Implementation would involve recruiting and training facilitators, attracting participants, monitoring and evaluation, and government engagement.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.