Health crises—from chronic, widespread illness such as malaria and dysentery to acute conditions requiring hospitalization or surgery—place great stress on all families, but more particularly on the poor.  The poor often struggle to access and pay for medical care and to cope with loss of productivity and income that can result from health problems, caring for a sick family member, or death.  As a result, there is a clear need and demand by the poor for reliable, affordable access to health care products.  Freedom from Hunger responds to this need in the following manner:

• Designing and promoting a range of health protection products for the poor.

• Collaborating with implementing organizations to offer or broker linkages to health protection products to fit the needs of their clients and their operating context.
  

By offering or brokering linkages to health protection products, implementing organizations can help their clients improve their health, reduce their vulnerability to health shocks and manage risk.  In the case of microfinance institutions, such products can also enhance the business value of their clients, in terms of larger loans and savings deposits, more reliable and timely repayment and repeat business.  Toward this end, Freedom from Hunger provides product design tools and related training and technical assistance to implementing organizations in the following areas:

• Informal education to enhance clients’ health literacy—knowledge and skills to prevent common diseases, finance the family’s health protection and respond to health crises.

• Health savings plans to cover the cost of preventive products and services, as well as medicines and treatment for acute needs.

• Emergency health loans to help clients immediately address critical health needs and avoid program drop-out or the use of expensive moneylenders.

• Linkages to approved health clinics and hospitals, often at a reduced group rate, for vital services such as prenatal care, HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, and family planning.

• Access to health products, such as insecticide-treated bednets for malaria prevention, eyeglasses or water purification systems, at reduced rates.

• Fixed premium health microinsurance with insurance companies or prepaid health plans to support regular preventive care, as well as emergency treatment for a specific set of common diseases.
  

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