The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 14 April 2026 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Harsha Thirumurthy.

About the Seminar:

Cash transfers as a strategy to improve population health: global evidence and current priorities

Cash-transfer programmes have emerged as central components of poverty reduction strategies in many countries. While there is substantial evidence that these programmes generate health and economic benefits for beneficiaries in low- and middle-income countries, there has been limited research on their effects on population-wide health outcomes.

This seminar will synthesize global evidence on the population health impacts of cash transfer programmes. Drawing part on data from 37 countries, the presentation will describe key findings that income support reduces all-cause mortality rates, largely through pathways such as improved access to maternal health service use and better nutrition.

The seminar will also present evidence from recent work in Egypt and conclude with a forward-looking discussion on research and policy priorities, with particular attention to implications for South Africa.

Speakers

Harsha Thirumurthy is the Founders Professor of Population Health and Chief of the Division of Health Policy the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Co-Director of the Behavioral Economics and Global Health Insights Lab and a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. Professor Thirumurthy earned his Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. His interests lie at the intersection of economics and public health.

Over the past 20 years, he has led large-scale studies that use non-experimental methods to evaluate health and economic policies and also led randomized trials behavioral interventions to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. In 2020, Professor Thirumurthy co-founded the Indela unit, a behavioral economics research and capacity strengthening initiative at Wits University.

  14 March 2026
  12:45 - 14:00 SAST
   CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29 Robert Leslie Social Science Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa