Structured summary of this review

Over the past few years, several Latin American countries have introduced programmes that provide monetary transfers to households on the condition that they comply with certain health behaviours. The rationale is that the transfers can potentially increase the use of health services by low-income individuals by providing funds to help overcome some financial barriers to access.

Key messages

• Six studies of conditional cash transfer programmes carried out in low and middle- income countries found an increase in the use of health services and mixed effects on immunisation coverage and health status.
• The capacity of each health system to deal with the increased demand should be considered, particularly in low-income countries where the capacity of health systems may not be sufficient.
• The cost-effectiveness of conditional cash transfer programmes, compared with supply-side strategies and other policy options, has not been evaluated.