Microfinance Institutions as a Platform for Global Health

Overview

This study will analyze data from a program run by an microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti from 2011-2012 where the MFI delivered health goods to some of the villages where it operates. By comparing health indicators among children who were in villages targeted by the program initially to children who were in villages that were not targeted by the program until later, the investigators hope to understand if the MFI successfully delivered the intervention and offer a practical platform for delivery of basic health goods.

Two-thirds of child deaths could be prevented with increased coverage of existing health products and services; however, effectively delivering health products and services to rural populations in low-income countries remains a practical challenge. This study investigates whether microfinance institutions (MFIs), having invested in community-based infrastructure to deliver financial services to 200 million rural poor households globally, offer a practical platform for delivery of basic health goods. The investigators intend to analyze data from a pilot program implemented by an MFI in Haiti during 2011-2012 that distributed an evidence-based health good, micronutrient powders (MNPs), to 526 children in 34 villages where the MFI operates. Micronutrient deficiency is estimated to be responsible for over 1 million deaths of children under five per year. MNPs are one form of micronutrient supplementation proven to effectively combat micronutrient deficiency. Published cost estimates indicate that leveraging existing supply chains could cut the total cost of mass MNP delivery by 25%. Given MFIs reach 200 million households globally, MFI-based delivery of health goods may be a promising route to improving health outcomes efficiently.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes