Brazil’s Bolsa Familia program, which provides monthly cash payments starting at $120 to families below the poverty line, has long been celebrated for lifting millions out of poverty. New research now highlights its significant health benefits, particularly in reducing tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease. A study in Nature Medicine examined 54 million impoverished Brazilians and found TB cases and deaths dropped by over 50%—and by more than 60% in Indigenous populations—among families receiving cash transfers.
The program’s conditions, such as mandatory health checkups and school attendance, aim to break poverty cycles by improving health, education, and access to essentials like food and housing. For TB, overcrowded, poorly ventilated living conditions and malnutrition fuel its spread. Cash assistance enables families to afford better housing and diets, improving immunity and reducing exposure to TB bacteria. Regular health checkups also facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.
Over two decades, Bolsa Familia has reduced child mortality, improved nutrition, and avoided millions of hospitalizations. Globally, similar programs have shown benefits: a study in 37 low- and middle-income countries linked cash transfers to a 20% drop in adult women’s mortality risk, with costs of just $11,000 per life saved—a highly cost-effective intervention.
At $2 billion per month, Bolsa Familia is more than an economic program; it’s a transformative health initiative. As cash transfer models expand worldwide, policymakers can learn from its success in addressing poverty and public health together.
