7
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Overcoming access barriers to health services through membership-based microfinance organizations: a review of evidence from South Asia.

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          It is a challenge for the poor to overcome the barriers to accessing health services. Membership-based microfinance with associated health programmes can improve health outcomes for the poor. This study reviewed the evidence published between 1993 and 2013 on the role of membership-based microfinance with associated health programmes in improving health outcomes for the poor in South Asia. A total of 661 papers were identified and 26 selected for inclusion, based on the relevance and rigour of the research methods. Of these 26, five were evidence reviews. Of the remaining 21 papers, 12 were from India, seven from Bangladesh, and one each from Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Three papers addressed more than one theme. Five key themes emerged from the review: (i) the impact of microfinance programmes on the social and economic situation of the poor; (ii) the impact of microfinance programmes on community health; (iii) the impact of integrated microfinance health programmes on raising client awareness; (iv) the impact of integrated microfinance health programmes on financing health care; and (v) the impact of integrated microfinance health programmes on affordable health-care products and services. The review provides new evidence on the pathways through which microfinance helps to improve population health and value for money for such programmes. Among countries with large populations in the informal sector, there is a strong case for policy-makers to support these groups in providing access to life-saving health care among the poor.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          WHO South East Asia J Public Health
          WHO South-East Asia journal of public health
          2224-3151
          2224-3151
          Jun 30 2014
          : 3
          : 2
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia ; Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, India.
          [2 ] Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia.
          Article
          EMS61812
          4326680
          25685728
          bd994c31-dcdf-4b96-8350-7bb8aaf1d0b4
          History

          community health,women’s group,poverty,microfinance,India,Bangladesh

          Comments

          Comment on this article