Co-coverage of social protection programs and maternal and child nutrition interventions in Bangladesh, India and Nepal

ABSTRACT Social protection programs (SPPs) are common in South Asia, a global malnutrition hotspot. Provision of SPP benefits as well as essential health/nutrition interventions to mothers and children are goals for optimal health and development outcomes, but the degree of co-coverage of SPPs and health/nutrition interventions among beneficiary households is poorly described. Using six population-based surveys from 2012 to 2019 in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal (n=253,703 women with children under five years of age), we examined data availability for SPPs (food and cash transfers) and health/nutrition interventions, and estimated their coverage and co-coverage during a woman’s last pregnancy (interventions: take-home food rations plus at least four antenatal care visits, receipt of at least 100 iron-folic acid tablets, deworming, and tetanus…