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Who's checking to see who is born, who dies and where the money goes? I would expect an increase in reported infant births (and reductions in reported infant d

Who's checking to see who is born, who dies and where the money goes? I would expect an increase in reported infant births (and reductions in reported infant deaths) if someone offered $1000 no-strings-attached! In fact, I'd expect a radical jump in births. And I'd expect researchers to skim off a proportion of the winnings too.

JSR_FDED 1y ago
Yikes, your reaction to a study showing infant deaths halving in Kenya is to assume the researchers skimmed some of the money? The article describes a randomised controlled trial, and explains the result is from better access to healthcare. What would make you happy, should they have sent you the money instead?
- giardini 1y ago
  TFA doesn't even provide a reference to the paper! But who cares? That's not the problem. The problem is that you'd give money to people (of course, only those with an infant!9-)) in a scientific study? That is foolishness. Kenya is easily one of the most corrupt nations in the world. If you distribute money there, all sorts will get part of it: sure, go ahead but use your own money. https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya/ https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya... https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/kenya-among-most-corrupt-countries-report-shows https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/...
  - gus_massa 1y ago
    I'm not sure about the situation in Kenya, but here in Argentina everyone gets a national ID number at birth, that includes fingerprints and a report from the hospital. The ID must be updated every 5-10 tears, with more photos and finferprints. Also, death are registered and you need a body. I can imagine it's possible to falsify all the documents and create fake children, but it's not an easy task to do at a massive scale.
    - giardini 1y ago
      ~30% of Kenyans have birth certificates: good luck with national ID numbers. Argentina is apparently waaaay ahead of Kenya on public record-keeping. As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
      - gus_massa 1y ago
        For the Sub 18 Soccer Word Coup, there is always the accusation that some countries have older players because they don't give a ID at birth... Since 70 years ago, everyone here had their ID. It was a long processes, you have to go to the police station and it took a few hours, and there were even cases of repeated numbers and other stupid errors. Losing the physical ID was painful because you must repeat all the process. Since 10 years, you pick a date and hour by internet, go and in 15 minutes you are done, and a week later you get your ID by post. It cost ~US$5, but you can try to ask for an exception if you are very poor. Or you can pay ~US$20 and get it 1 hour later instead of waiting. It's almost boring. > As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat. Fingerprints! They are not perfect, but the complete 10 fingers are reliable enough to avoid duplication. (Partial matches of 1 partial fingerprint in a crappy medium is snake oil.)

JSR_FDED 1y ago

Yikes, your reaction to a study showing infant deaths halving in Kenya is to assume the researchers skimmed some of the money? The article describes a randomised controlled trial, and explains the result is from better access to healthcare. What would make you happy, should they have sent you the money instead?

giardini 1y ago
TFA doesn't even provide a reference to the paper! But who cares? That's not the problem. The problem is that you'd give money to people (of course, only those with an infant!9-)) in a scientific study? That is foolishness. Kenya is easily one of the most corrupt nations in the world. If you distribute money there, all sorts will get part of it: sure, go ahead but use your own money. https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya/ https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya... https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/kenya-among-most-corrupt-countries-report-shows https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/...
- gus_massa 1y ago
  I'm not sure about the situation in Kenya, but here in Argentina everyone gets a national ID number at birth, that includes fingerprints and a report from the hospital. The ID must be updated every 5-10 tears, with more photos and finferprints. Also, death are registered and you need a body. I can imagine it's possible to falsify all the documents and create fake children, but it's not an easy task to do at a massive scale.
  - giardini 1y ago
    ~30% of Kenyans have birth certificates: good luck with national ID numbers. Argentina is apparently waaaay ahead of Kenya on public record-keeping. As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
    - gus_massa 1y ago
      For the Sub 18 Soccer Word Coup, there is always the accusation that some countries have older players because they don't give a ID at birth... Since 70 years ago, everyone here had their ID. It was a long processes, you have to go to the police station and it took a few hours, and there were even cases of repeated numbers and other stupid errors. Losing the physical ID was painful because you must repeat all the process. Since 10 years, you pick a date and hour by internet, go and in 15 minutes you are done, and a week later you get your ID by post. It cost ~US$5, but you can try to ask for an exception if you are very poor. Or you can pay ~US$20 and get it 1 hour later instead of waiting. It's almost boring. > As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat. Fingerprints! They are not perfect, but the complete 10 fingers are reliable enough to avoid duplication. (Partial matches of 1 partial fingerprint in a crappy medium is snake oil.)