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The new initiative provided conditional financial incentives for poor rural families, on the basis of their use of prenatal, child health, and nutritional services provided by local clinics. Because researchers were involved in the initial design, they were able to build a prospective, cluster-randomized experiment into the program’s roll-out, revealing statistically significant improvements in child development as a result of the new initiative (16). Because these and other quantitative studies showed sustained effectiveness (17), conditional cash transfers have enjoyed continuous support of the Mexican government, despite radical changes in political leadership. Similar programs are being adopted by policy-makers throughout Latin America.

The West African Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) is another example of how rigorous implementation research can amplify the public health impact of proven interventions …