DP11458 Meta-Analysis and Public Policy: Reconciling the Evidence on Deworming

• Kevin Croke Joan Hamory Hicks Eric Hsu Michael Kremer Ricardo Maertens Edward Miguel Witold Więcek
23 Aug 2016

The WHO recommends mass drug administration (MDA) for intestinal worm infections in areas with >20% infection prevalence. Recent Cochrane meta-analyses endorse treatment of infected individuals but recommend against MDA. We conducted a theory-agnostic
random-effects meta-analysis of the effect of multiple-dose MDA and a cost-effectiveness analysis.
We estimate significant effects of MDA on child weight (0.15 kg, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.24; p