At a recent global health simulation conference, I pushed the concept of New Incentives to facilitate vaccinations. However, misconceptions around the effects of cash transfers continue to exist, despite strong evidence to the contrary. GiveWell also mentions in their evaluation that “There is some opposition to New Incentives’ program within the Nigerian federal government, which poses a potential threat to the sustainability of the program long-term.” How do you address misconceptions, and how are you working to persuade the government to provide more support to the program?
Vinay, thanks for advocating for this work. One of the most effective tools we’ve found for addressing misconceptions is consistent, transparent data sharing. Over the past few years, we’ve invested in equipping our team to share program and household coverage survey data regularly with key stakeholders and implementing partners. Examples can be found here and here. We also share regular updates through our stakeholder newsletter and blog.
On government buy-in: it’s accurate that some actors remain skeptical, but we collaborate closely with several arms of the national government, including the logistics division of NPHCDA. We also invest deeply in relationships with state health authorities who oversee primary healthcare. We have found that regularly sharing data and reports with stakeholders across different levels of government has helped us identify blind spots, improve operations, and strengthen a culture of last-mile data use and operational visibility.
Hello, Svetha.
At a recent global health simulation conference, I pushed the concept of New Incentives to facilitate vaccinations. However, misconceptions around the effects of cash transfers continue to exist, despite strong evidence to the contrary. GiveWell also mentions in their evaluation that “There is some opposition to New Incentives’ program within the Nigerian federal government, which poses a potential threat to the sustainability of the program long-term.” How do you address misconceptions, and how are you working to persuade the government to provide more support to the program?
Vinay, thanks for advocating for this work. One of the most effective tools we’ve found for addressing misconceptions is consistent, transparent data sharing. Over the past few years, we’ve invested in equipping our team to share program and household coverage survey data regularly with key stakeholders and implementing partners. Examples can be found here and here. We also share regular updates through our stakeholder newsletter and blog.
On government buy-in: it’s accurate that some actors remain skeptical, but we collaborate closely with several arms of the national government, including the logistics division of NPHCDA. We also invest deeply in relationships with state health authorities who oversee primary healthcare. We have found that regularly sharing data and reports with stakeholders across different levels of government has helped us identify blind spots, improve operations, and strengthen a culture of last-mile data use and operational visibility.