A £1.3m grant to J-PAL South Asia to support a randomised controlled trial in Tamil Nadu, India to test whether distribution of free fortified rice through the Public Distribution System is a cost-effective way to treat anaemia at scale.
The RCT addresses an important public health challenge in India and beyond with significant benefits on the health of women and children and general productivity.
The RCT and complementary activities will test the effectiveness of rice fortification close to actual program conditions on a large scale.
The study has been designed in close collaboration with, and with strong support from the GoTN, which is contributing human and financial resources to the study.
The intervention has the potential to be highly cost-effective and scalable – the PDS covers 72 million people in Tamil Nadu alone.
This project is high on the agenda for J-PAL South Asia at IFMR – this is their first partnership with a state government and the first RCT co-funded by the GoTN under the joint MoU.
This intervention also supports a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals including: Goal 1 (No Poverty) and 2 (End Hunger).
Click here to read Reducing Anaemia’s Impact Brief.
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