- People: Dean Spears, Luisa Rodriguez, Keiran Harris
- Source: 80,000 Hours
- Podcast link
In this episode, host Luisa Rodriguez speaks to Dean Spears — associate professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin and founding director of r.i.c.e. — about his experience implementing a surprisingly low-tech but highly cost-effective kangaroo mother care programme in Uttar Pradesh, India to save the lives of vulnerable newborn infants.
They cover:
- The shockingly high neonatal mortality rates in Uttar Pradesh, India, and how social inequality and gender dynamics contribute to poor health outcomes for both mothers and babies.
- The remarkable benefits for vulnerable newborns that come from skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding support.
- The challenges and opportunities that come with working with a government hospital to implement new, evidence-based programmes.
- How the currently small programme might be scaled up to save more newborns’ lives in other regions of Uttar Pradesh and beyond.
- How targeted health interventions stack up against direct cash transfers.
- Plus, a sneak peak into Dean’s new book, which explores the looming global population peak that’s expected around 2080, and the consequences of global depopulation.
- And much more.
Producer and editor: Keiran Harris/Audio engineering lead: Ben Cordell/Technical editing: Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong/Additional content editing: Katy Moore and Luisa Rodriguez/Transcriptions: Katy Moore