Health care through microfinance

Three of the most respected nonprofit organizations in the fields of microfinance and health have announced a joint initiative to address health issues in Latin America through a microfinance model. Microfinance organizations Pro Mujer and Global Partnerships are joining with the leading global health organization PATH in an effort to improve access to essential, low-cost preventive and primary health care. The initiative aims to break the cycle of poverty and poor health that affects many communities in Latin America and elsewhere.

Based in New York, Pro Mujer focuses on development and microfinance programs for poor women in Latin America. Seattle-based Global Partnerships also supports microfinance and other poverty-reduction programs in Latin America. PATH, also headquartered in Seattle, works to create solutions to health care problems in communities throughout the world.

Over the course of the next year, the three organizations will work together to create and launch a financially sustainable health program for Pro Mujer in Nicaragua. The initiative will build on Pro Mujer's history of helping poor women in Latin America improve their income and the lives of their families through an integrated package of financial services, training, and health care. The ultimate goal is to create a model that can be replicated elsewhere.

“Pro Mujer has 20 years of experience providing high-quality, low-cost healthcare and preventive health education," said Rosario Pérez, CEO of Pro Mujer. "Collaborating with Global Partnerships and PATH will enable us to do so with greater focus, higher impact, and lower costs, with the goal of tackling the health care problems that contribute most to poverty and pose the greatest danger to women and their children.” 

Global Partnerships will provide overall leadership for the initiative. “Poverty and poor health are inextricably linked, and the solutions are as well,” said President and CEO Rick Beckett. “One of the strategic challenges facing the microfinance industry is the need to develop fully sustainable solutions that address multiple facets of poverty. This collaboration with Pro Mujer and PATH allows us to bring together microfinance experience, global health expertise and rigorous economic discipline to advance the field for the benefit of people living in poverty.”

During the initial phase of the microfinance-health initiative, PATH will conduct an assessment to identify priority health concerns and develop appropriate strategies for addressing them through microcredit services. Pro Mujer will test the strategies in a follow-up pilot project. The experiences garnered in the pilot project will form the basis for a resource guide for defining an integrated health strategy for microfinance institutions that can be replicated in other markets.

“We will be looking at a range of health solutions—largely preventive and primary care—that are affordable, sustainable, and appropriate to Pro Mujer’s client base and infrastructure,” said Chris Elias, president and CEO of PATH.