On January 23, The Microcredit Summit Campaign and Freedom from Hunger announced they have entered a strategic alliance to reach more than 700,000 microfinance clients with health education and services over the next five years.
A common reason that the best microfinance programs are undermined is illness. Poor families end up taking loans for medical fees and put themselves further in debt, often repaying late or causing default. In 2006, Freedom from Hunger launched the Microfinance and Health Protection (MAHP). MAHP allows women to open health savings accounts, take out health loans, purchase basic healthcare goods, access health micro-insurance, and improve their access to local clinics.
By 2010, a four-year, $6 million project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of MAHP was completed. The project enabled Freedom from Hunger and five microfinance institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America to collaborate on designing, testing, piloting and evaluating the impact of adding health protection services to their microfinance offerings.
Last year, Johnson & Johnson renewed support of MAHP. They funded a feasibility study by Freedom from Hunger and the Microcredit Summit Campaign on expanding MAHP in India by demonstrating the positive impact on women having access to healthcare and microfinance.
The study revealed that numerous microfinance institutions were interested in adding health services to their microfinance programs. The second phase of the project identifies and develops innovations in health services and models for expanding outreach.
The ultimate goal of the project is to offer women opportunities to improve maternal and child health, family planning, non-communicable diseases, and to fight the increasing threat of HIV/AIDS.