At least half the global population does not have access to essential health services. Even for those who do have access, health shocks can often cause excessive financial hardship. The cost of healthcare combined with the loss of income when a primary income earner is affected have the potential to push families into extreme poverty. Financial services, such as insurance, health financing products and savings, can help people manage health expenses. Many microfinance institutions and other financial service providers also offer non-financial services to support their clients’ health including health education, access to discounted medical services or reward-based schemes to promote healthy behavior. Financing for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is another way that financial service providers support their clients’ improved health.
What can you find in this Topic Hub?
Curated by FinDev editors, this Topic Hub offers you access to key resources contributed by organizations around the world who work on the topic of health and financial inclusion. Our latest blogs and publications on this topic are featured here (in the Resources Tab above), and you can find a collection of papers, case studies and guides to explore further. When there are upcoming webinars, events and recent news on this topic, they will be featured in the Topic Hub as well, so make sure to come back regularly for the latest on this topic. Finally, we’ve selected some key additional resources, which are listed on the right here, where you can learn even more about this topic.
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Featured
Water.org explains why water and sanitation loans have high repayment rates and should be prioritized by MFIs, and makes a call to all microfinance professionals to reject the misguided labeling of loans as either productive or for consumption only.
News & Events
The latest news and upcoming events and training from the global financial inclusion community on this topic.