Microfinance Institutions as a Platform for Global Health

Anemia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Microfinance Institutions as a Platform for Global Health Delivery: Evidence From a Pilot Program

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02808117
• Other study ID #: AAAP7004
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: June 17, 2016
• Last updated: November 29, 2016
• Start date: May 2015
• Est. completion date: November 2016

Study information

• Verified date: November 2016
• Source: Columbia University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

This study will analyze data from a program run by an microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti from 2011-2012 where the MFI delivered health goods to some of the villages where it operates. By comparing health indicators among children who were in villages targeted by the program initially to children who were in villages that were not targeted by the program until later, the investigators hope to understand if the MFI successfully delivered the intervention and offer a practical platform for delivery of basic health goods.

Description:

Two-thirds of child deaths could be prevented with increased coverage of existing health products and services; however, effectively delivering health products and services to rural populations in low-income countries remains a practical challenge. This study investigates whether microfinance institutions (MFIs), having invested in community-based infrastructure to deliver financial services to 200 million rural poor households globally, offer a practical platform for delivery of basic health goods.

The investigators intend to analyze data from a pilot program implemented by an MFI in Haiti during 2011-2012 that distributed an evidence-based health good, micronutrient powders (MNPs), to 526 children in 34 villages where the MFI operates. Micronutrient deficiency is estimated to be responsible for over 1 million deaths of children under five per year. MNPs are one form of micronutrient supplementation proven to effectively combat micronutrient deficiency.

Published cost estimates indicate that leveraging existing supply chains could cut the total cost of mass MNP delivery by 25%. Given MFIs reach 200 million households globally, MFI-based delivery of health goods may be a promising route to improving health outcomes efficiently.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 526
• Est. completion date: November 2016
• Est. primary completion date: August 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 6 Months to 54 Months

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Lives in a household where the head of household was an microfinance client.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severely anemic (Hgb < 70 g/L)

• Severely malnourished (Mid Upper Arm Circumference < 110 mm)

Study Design

Observational Model: Case Control, Time Perspective: Retrospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anemia
• Malnutrition

Intervention

Dietary Supplement:
• MNP
Program that delivered MNP and implemented by an MFI in Haiti during 2011-2012. One form of micronutrient supplementation proven to effectively combat micronutrient deficiency.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Columbia University	New York	New York

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Columbia University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in blood hemoglobin concentration		Baseline, 3 months	No
Secondary	Prevalence of diagnosis of anemia		3 months	No