Integrating Microfinance and Health Strategies: Examining the Evidence to Inform Policy and Practice

This paper examines the potential of MFIs to contribute to poverty alleviation and healthcare.

Single solutions continue to be inadequate in confronting problems of poverty, ill health and insufficient health system capacity worldwide. The poor need access to an integrated set of financial and health services to have income security and better health.

The paper reviews evidence from multiple studies that indicate the effectiveness of microfinance and its impact on poverty. Findings include:

• MFIs are capable of contributing to health improvement by increasing knowledge that leads to behavioral changes;
• MFIs can contribute by enhancing access to health services through addressing financial, geographic and other barriers;
• Positive health benefits are possible in diverse areas such as maternal and child health, malaria and other infectious disease, and domestic violence;
• More rigorous research is needed to inform policy and guide program implementation to integrate microfinance and health interventions;
• Microfinance sector offers an underutilized opportunity for delivery of health-related services to many hard-to-reach populations.