# A savings intervention to reduce men's engagement in HIV risk behaviors

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $708,340

## Abstract

Project Abstract
In much of eastern and southern Africa, the incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
remains high despite the scale-up of promising biomedical and behavioral interventions. Recent studies have
documented the crucial role of transactional sex – the exchange of money, material support or goods in age-
disparate, sexual relationships – and heavy alcohol use in driving HIV/STI incidence and influencing men's and
women's health outcomes. Existing policy responses to this challenge have largely focused on women, with
various interventions to reduce women's engagement in transactional sex such as education subsidies,
vocational training, and cash transfers for economic empowerment. However, the effectiveness of these
interventions has been hindered by the relative lack of programs that target men's behavior. There is a vital
need for interventions that can reduce men's engagement in risky behaviors that increase HIV/STI risk.
This project will test an innovative, theoretically-motivated economic intervention to reduce men's engagement
in transactional sex and other risky behaviors. Leveraging innovations in mobile financial services and
research on savings behavior in low-income countries, our intervention will motivate high-risk, income-earning
men in Kenya to reduce their spending on risky behaviors and instead save their disposable income in local
bank accounts. These bank accounts will include (a) additional incentives to save in the form of lottery-based
rewards linked to amounts saved, (b) opportunities to develop savings goals, and (c) periodic reminders about
the incentives and goals. Through a direct economic mechanism (incentives to shift expenditures from the
present to the future) and a psychological mechanism (increasing future orientation), this intervention can
generate significant behavior change and improve health outcomes. We will conduct a randomized controlled
trial among high-risk men to determine effects of the savings intervention on their health and economic
outcomes.
Specific aims of the project are as follows. Aim 1: Determine the impact of the savings intervention on
incidence of HIV and other STIs. Aim 2: Determine intervention impacts on savings and expenditures as well
as risky health behaviors. Aim 3: Quantitatively and qualitatively assess mechanisms of behavior change
among participants and among a sample of female partners. By testing an intervention to promote forward-
looking behavior and reduce the risk of acquiring HIV and other STIs in a high HIV/STI burden setting, this
project has high potential for scientific and public health impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10258585
- **Project number:** 1R01HD103563-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Harsha Thirumurthy
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $708,340
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2026-03-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10258585

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10258585, A savings intervention to reduce men's engagement in HIV risk behaviors (1R01HD103563-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10258585. Licensed CC0.

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