For millions living in poverty, healthcare is unaffordable and inaccessible, especially for those in rural and remote areas. Women face further challenges in accessing crucial healthcare due to economic, physical and cultural barriers. Opportunity’s microfinance partners have extensive reach in communities of marginalised women. Family health issues are the main reason people default on small ...
Opportunity International Australia
Opportunity Health Program
GOAL
$100,000
International
Field of Interest
- Health/wellbeing and medical research
- International aid and development
Target Population
- People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
- Women and girls
Opportunity International Australia
Our goal is to help families leave poverty behind.
We help families start their own businesses so they can earn sustainable incomes. We improve health, sanitation and nutrition so illness doesn't stop families from running their own businesses or create greater burden. We support better education so that the next generation of children can have the chance to leave poverty behind. And we provide domestic violence support and trafficking prevention training to help communities become—and remain—safe places for the next generation.
To meet this goal, we want to be sure that what we're doing is meeting their needs and making a tangible difference in the lives of the families we're helping.
We know that, to tackle the complex issue of poverty, we need a multi-faceted approach that addresses the specific needs of the people we serve. Our solutions centre on four key aspects of the poverty cycle: microfinance, health, education, and safety.
Project Summary
For millions living in poverty, healthcare is unaffordable and inaccessible, especially for those in rural and remote areas. Women face further challenges in accessing crucial healthcare due to economic, physical and cultural barriers.
Opportunity’s microfinance partners have extensive reach in communities of marginalised women. Family health issues are the main reason people default on small loan repayments, highlighting the burden of health-related expenses on families trying to work their way out of poverty.
Better primary care that is provided in the community, including medicine shops, small clinics, and health education is critical to achieving health for all and supporting people to have thriving businesses.
Small private clinics and medicine shops have significant potential to reach people living in poverty that are outside the reach of the public health sector, but they remain largely unregulated and are underfunded, lacking the capital for stock, training and to hire staff.
Combining community health education, community healthcare, mobile clinics and health finance products to prevent illness and reduce health expenditure, Opportunity works with the private sector and at a community level to reach those who would otherwise miss out on critical care.
Project Outcomes
The Opportunity Health Program has two parts.
1. Health Leaders are created
Empowering people to deliver community health education, focused on menstrual, maternal and child health, nutrition, and climate resilience, and facilitate access to health products, specialist services and tele-consultations for people in their communities.
Many Health Leaders are small business owners, they
receive a stipend and the program supports them to generate additional income by selling health products and services like menstrual pads and basic medications.
- 1 Health Leader can reach up to 750 people with vital health education.
2. Health Entrepreneurs
Strengthening community healthcare by providing training, support, loans and targeted financial solutions to community pharmacies
and small private health clinics to improve the quality of care and products offered to women and families experiencing poverty.
These Health Entrepreneurs play a crucial role as the first point of contact in the healthcare system for many in rural and remote communities, providing lifesaving medicines, healthcare and referrals.
A future pilot program is also being created -
Health Finance
Support financial institutions to develop health-related products and services that address critical gaps for people living in poverty.
These include affordable health insurance, mutuals, emergency medical loans and incentivised savings accounts that allow those usually excluded to minimise the impacts of health expenses and build resilience to future shocks.
$10,000 can help train 3 new Health Leaders and 3 new Health Entrepreneurs, impacting up to 2,265 people living in poverty.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $30,000,000
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