What Works in India: Beyond Microfinance to Health Protection
In India, a country with a democratic government and fast-growing economy, over 42 percent of children under 5 are underweight, reports TheNew York Times. According to the World Food Program, one-fourth of all the world’s hungry (230 million people) live in India, with anemia rampant among childbearing-age women and children. Malnutrition debilitates a child both physically and mentally, according to the World Health Organization, leaving the child vulnerable to infection and illness, too sluggish for creative and cognitive activities—no energy for curiosity or for play.
Freedom from Hunger conducted health surveys with the staff of Bandhan, the world’s fastest-growing microfinance organization—well over one million members since Bandhan started services in 2002. We talked directly to groups of women borrowers, providing pictures of various health problems and service options and recording their responses, to pinpoint exactly where the system is failing families in India.
It surprised us to find that not one of the clients whose babies had diarrhea gave their children more water or food, both of which are needed for recovery (40% gave less, and 60% gave the same as usual). Three-quarters of families believed in giving less food to a child with any type of illness and did not know proper portion sizes for growing babies.
However, childbearing women said they visited the doctor up to three times during a pregnancy (85%), knew they should eat more and take iron while pregnant (80%), and knew to breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months (94%).
Our detailed data-gathering tells us families want to do right by their children. Access to health practices such as washing hands with soap, taking iron tablets when pregnant, and giving nutrient-rich foods to tiny tummies, empowers parents to save their children from early death and stunted development . . . a primeval fate no one should suffer in our 21st-century world.
Believing in the power of extending resources and choices to people willing and able to help themselves, Freedom from Hunger assisted Bandhan to develop a new service that employs, trains and supports 150 “Sastho Sohayikas,” community health workers. These village women go door-to-door answering healthcare inquiries, offering recommendations and health products, and—in some dire cases—encouraging and assisting with transport to emergency care. Additionally, listening to borrowers inspired Bandhan to offer health loans (used for family illness without jeopardizing their business loan and income).
What sets Freedom from Hunger apart—and inspires more and more microfinance service providers to emulate—is our dedication to providing women with a cluster of both financial and non-financial services that matter to them. The services vary from place to place and change as needs change over time, but health protection is always a major concern.
As we plan our next stage of strategic growth, we’ll keep talking to families and listening to what they need. Armed with this intelligence, we’ll help microfinance institutions like Bandhan learn how to reach poorer and more remote families and combine loans and savings services with business and financial training and also to provide health education and access to healthcare services and products.
We look forward to the day when the sustainable power of microfinance is fully harnessed to prevent new reports about children starving and malnourished in places like India, or anywhere else.
