Tuberculosis rates plunge when families living in poverty get a monthly cash payout

What if the best medicine isn’t a pill or vaccine — but it’s cold cash?

There’s a growing body of research that suggests economic programs that give money to very poor people can have major health benefits. Now, a new study — out on Friday in Nature Medicine — proves this approach can work when it comes to the world’s deadliest infectious disease: tuberculosis, which killed more than 1.25 million people in 2023.

“There are very large benefits — large and underappreciated — of these [types of] programs,” says Dr. Aaron Richterman, an assistant professor of infectious diseases and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the study.