healthy mothers, healthy babies philippi… · 20/09/2015 · increasing healthcare access through...
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1HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
Healthy
Mothers,
Healthy
BabiesKalinga kay Inay
Project
September 2015
Building a healthy future for women and children in the Philippines
QUICK FACTS
804,566 women received
health education in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao
1,113 account officers trained in
14,650 centers
4 community health fairs
3,634 check-ups, among whom…
…2,263 were pregnant
…1,371 were lactating
107 health providers participated
in health fairs
2,222 mother and baby kits
distributed
Free Ultrasounds Draw the Community
Charyle is 32 years old and ninemonths pregnant with her fourthchild. She attended the Davao Citycommunity health fair organizedin July by CARD MRI, a Filipinomicrofinance institution (MFI), withpartners from MFIs for Health.
Charyle was very excited for anultrasound. While Charyle goesmonthly to a nearby health centerfor prenatal checkups, this waslikely her first ultrasound.
Charyle plans to deliver at a birthingcenter (an affordable alternative to ahospital for low-risk pregnancies).“I like it better because it’s morepersonal,” she said. “I havePhilHealth, which helps with costsand point-of-care service.”
Irish (27) is four months pregnantwith her first child. She has visiteda health clinic three times alreadyand plans to deliver at a regionalhospital because she hashypertension. “So,” said Irish, “Ithink I will look at PhilHealth whileat this health fair.”
Barrera (30) is 8 months pregnantwith her fourth child. Barreralearned of the fair during herprenatal visit at the health center,which is within walking distance andoffersfreeprenatalcheckups.
She said she decided to come to thefair “For the ultrasound—to be ableto see my baby. It was my first time.”
Berrera also plans to deliver at herlocal birthing center. “It is walkingdistance from where I live, and it isPhilHealth accredited, so free.”
Charyle, Irish, and Barrera exemplifythe recommended behaviors thatpregnant women in the Philippinescan and should exhibit, butparticipants at the fair span aspectrum in terms of maternal healthknowledge and preparedness—something the education andaccess to services covers.
OB/GYNs, general physicians,pediatricians, and other medicalprofessionals provided services tothese women that many normallywould not be able to access or afford.
2HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
ABOUT THE PROJECTFreedom from Hunger and the Microcredit Summit Campaignare partnering with CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions(CARD MRI) to implement an 18-month project to address maternal health in the Philippines head-on. The project is supported by an educational grant from Johnson & Johnson.
Freedom from Hunger and the Microcredit Summit Campaign are US-based non-profit organizations. CARD MRI is one of the largest groups of social development institutions in the Philippines, including the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in the country.
“Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies,”or “Kalinga kay Inay” in Tagalog, consists of 3 main project areas:
Health education and access
Build sustainability
Document evidence
MFIs for Health Consortium
MFIs for Health is made up of 21 microfinance institutions committed to providing access to health care services to poor communities:
ARDCI NGO Group, Inc.ASA Philippines Foundation, Inc.Alalay Sa Kaunlaran, Inc.Bangko Kabayan, Inc.Bukidnon Integrated Network of Home Industries, Inc.CARD Bank, Inc.Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), Inc.CARD SME Bank, Inc.Center for Community TransformationCommunity Economic Venture, Inc.Daan Sa Pag-Unlad, Inc.Kabalikat Para Sa Maunlad Na Buhay, Inc.
KFI Center for Community Development Foundation, Inc.LifeBank FoundationNegros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.Pag-Inupdanay, Inc.Rizal Bank, Inc.Rural Bank of Talisayan-Mutual Benefit Association and FonusMultipurpose Cooperative (MFI), Inc.Taytay Sa Kauswagan, Inc.Tulay Sa Pag Unlad, Inc.USWAG Development Foundation, Inc.
Contact [email protected]
to learn how you can join.Photo credits: all photos weretaken by staff of the threepartner organizations.
3HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
THE MOTHER AND BABY KIT
Through the “Healthy Mothers,Healthy Babies” project, CARD andpartners are providing diapers,cotton balls and buds, soap,thermometers, rubbing alcohol,and baby oil to women who attendthe community health fairs.
In the four community health fairs,the project has distributed 2,222mother and baby health kits.
Increasing Healthcare Access
Through “Healthy Mothers,Healthy Babies,” 8,000 women ofchild bearing age (primarilypregnant and lactating women)will receive education as well aspreventive and diagnostic servicesthrough five community healthfairs by the end of 2015.
Enabling Ongoing Healthcare
CARD engages local governmentand local healthcare providers(HCPs) when organizing healthfairs. The municipal health officeand midwives have helped to getwomen to the health fair and localHCPs have provided their services.The hope is to link attendees tolocal healthcare providers forongoing healthcare service.
PhilHealth Participation
The Philippines’ national healthinsurance program, PhilHealth, iscommitted to providingaffordable, acceptable, available,and accessible healthcare services.
CARD has made a point to engagethe local health insurance office ofPhilHealth in the fairs where theyprovide orientation, enrolling non-members, and other services tohealth fair attendees.
Many women do not know thebenefits or financial savings ofPhilHealth membership. So, they
learn that a year’s premium is lessthan a typical uninsured delivery,meaning that it is financiallyadvantageous to sign up.Moreover, PhilHealth nowprovides point-of-care sign-ups,encouraging attendees to enroll.
4 Fairs, 2 to Go
Since October 2014, CARD hasorganized four community healthfairs, averaging 1000 attendees,and they have been a communityundertaking. More than 100OB/GYNs, pediatricians, generalphysicians, midwives, and localhealth volunteers have providedtheir services to the community.
Many women have experiencedtheir first ever gynecological examwith an OB/GYN—let alone anultrasound. We have found this tobe the primary reason women aretraveling to the community healthfairs.
Attendees also participate indialogue-based education, learningimportant maternal and childhealthcare lessons.
Fairs were held in Palawan (lastOctober), Bicol (January), theVisayas (April), and Davao City(July). Two more fairs will be heldin October in Mindanao andNorthern Luzon.
“The health fair opened my eyes to higher-needs
people in the community.”
Eva, an OB/GYN
4HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
With funding support fromJohnson & Johnson, theMicrocredit Summit Campaign andFreedom from Hunger set out in2014 to develop and test astandardized set of “HealthOutcome Performance Indicators”(HOPI) that can be used by MFIsand other financial service
providers (FSPs) to monitor thehealth outcomes of clients over time.
The HOPI relied on a cross-sectoralcollaborative process, engagingmicrofinance practitioners, healthsector experts, and investors. Theindicators were then pilot tested byfour MFIs in India, the Philippines,and Peru. (CARD participated inthe pilot.)
The results from these four MFIshighlighted the added value ofhealth indicators when combinedwith poverty measurement inhelping MFIs understand clientwell-being. For example, the foodsecurity measure was useful todetect vulnerability; while very fewclients in Peru fell under any of thepoverty lines, 40 percent of themscored as food insecure.
The project culminated with the
release of Healthy, Wealthy andWise: How Microfinance Institu-tions Can Track the Health ofClients. The report describes theexperience in selecting and pilot-testing the HOPI. These indicatorsand corresponding paper aim tohelp institutions to chooseappropriate indicators for monitoringclient health outcomes over time.
The HOPI assess the following:
Poverty, food security andnutrition
Preventive and curative healthcare
Water and sanitation
Attitudes
To learn how to adapt the HOPI toyour own institution’s needs,contact Sabina Rogers([email protected]).
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Tracking the Health of Clients
Community health fair attendees in Davao
BotiCARD provides vitamins
Handing out Mother and Baby kits
Attendees enroll in PhilHealth
Community Health Fairs
Women from the local communityand surrounding areas accessmaternal health products andservices like urine tests, OB/GYNconsults, ultrasounds, sonograms,and vitamins provided by BotiCARD(part of the CARD family). Suchservices are otherwise unavailable tomany of them.
While women wait for theircheckup, local health volunteersdeliver education on family planningand other important maternalhealth topics.
CARD convenes community healthworkers, private provider physicians,and public health nurses as well asthe Department of Health, localgovernment, and PhilHealthnational insurance program toimprove maternal health in poor,rural communities where accessinghealth services is a challenge.
5HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
What does it take to delivermaternal health education to600,000 women? In January 2015,17 CARD staff and 1 nurse took partin a training of trainers (ToT) on thematernal and child health educationmodule, “Healthy PregnanciesMake Healthy Communities.”
The program covers topics likekeeping mothers healthy, nutritionand supplements for pregnant andyoung women, the importance ofdelivering in a health facility, andmore. CARD’s Account Officersthen deliver the lessons to the loangroup members, a fundamentalcomponent of Freedom from
Hunger’s Credit with Education(CwE) program.
CARD is also an advocate in thePhilippines for integrated health andmicrofinance programming andhosts the MFIs for Health secretariat.
In March, four members of MFIs forHealth—ASA Philippines Founda-tion Inc., Kabalikat Para saMaunlad na Buhay, Inc. (KMBI),Tulay sa Pag-unlad, Inc. (TSPI) andCenter for Community Transforma-tion (CCT)—joined the IntegrationWorkshop and ToT facilitated byCARD MRI.
The first two days of the trainingwere dedicated to identifyingsustainable strategies toincorporate health education intoexisting financial servicesstructures and functions. On daythree, participants gained a deeperunderstanding of the maternalhealth education content.
Participants were trained on howto effectively deliver content usingthe Pictorial Learning Conversation
(PLC) methodology for theirmicrofinance clients during acenter meeting. PLCs are a newlearning technique from Freedomfrom Hunger, CARD MRI’slongtime partner.
The participants, primarily MFImanagers, said that the traininghelped them gain a betterappreciation and understanding ofstrategies to delivering,monitoring, and evaluating CwE.They also shared that it will helpthem to better achieve the visionand social mission of theirrespective institutions.
Building Capacity to Provide Health Education
CARD members with their Account Officer.
AOs are CARD staff who facilitate women’s community bank groups and are trained to effectively deliver health education.
6HEALTHY MOTHERS, HEALTHY BABIES | Issue 1
CONTACT US
CARD MRIMarilyn Manila, Director of Community Development Group | Cleofe Montemayor-Figuracion, Deputy Director for Corporate Communications
+63 (49) 562-4309 local 108 | [email protected] | [email protected]
www.cardmri.com
Microcredit Summit Campaign Sabina Rogers, Communications and Relationships Manager
[email protected] | Phone: +1 (202) 637-9600
www.microcreditsummit.org
Freedom from HungerCassie Chandler, Global Manager for Microfinance and Health Protection
[email protected] | Phone: +1 (530) 758-6200www.freedomfromhunger.org
The Filipino “MFIs for Health”consortium expanded to 21microfinance institutions (MFIs) inMay when they inked aMemorandum of Agreement toprovide access to health careservices to poor communities.
“Helping poor communitiesthrough financial access isundeniably important in povertyeradication,” said Marilyn M.Manila, the chairperson of MFIs forHealth, “but this is insufficient toreach our goal. Poor health andhaving no access to health careservice are big part of continuouspoverty in many countries. Werealize the importance of goodhealth of [MFIs’] clients to helpthem continue improve theirquality of life.” MFIs for Healthlooks to build strong partnershipswith other MFIs, foundations, andgovernment agencies in order toleverage synergies for tacklinghealth inequities in the country.
The signing ceremony waswitnessed by Senator PauloBenigno “Bam” Aquino; Atty.Alexander Padilla, president ofPhilHealth; and representativesfrom the Department of Health(DOH), the Microfinance Council ofthe Philippines (MCPI), and otherinternational partners.
Atty. Padilla and Sen. Aquino bothrecognized the role of MFIs forHealth in achieving healthprotection for all Filipinos.
“The microfinance industry hasgrown so much over the past year,”Sen. Aquino said. “Its growingindustry means supporting moreFilipinos who are in need. It iscrucial that the MFI industry shouldcontinue to innovate…and unlockmore accessible opportunities thatgo beyond financing and bring it toour countrymen especially in theareas who have less opportunities.”Sen. Aquino closed by saying, “Ouroffice is committed to pushing the
policies in order to get there. Weshould continue to work together.Rest assured that we are here asyour main partner in the senate.”
Prof. Ernesto Garilao, president ofZuellig Family Foundation, AllanRobert Sicat, executive director ofMCPI, Camille Rivera, seniorprogram associate at theMicrocredit Summit Campaign,and Steve Hollingworth, presidentof Freedom from Hunger, also gavea message of support to the MFIsfor Health.
Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, thefounder and managing director ofCARD MRI, was pleased for thesupport given by Sen. Aquino,PhilHealth, and local andinternational institutions.
“I am thankful with the differentinstitutions for believing that thejoint microfinance and health couldhelp improve the quality of life ofmany Filipinos,” said Dr. Alip.
“MFIs for Health” Provide Health Services to Poor Communities
“Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies”activities have received coveragefrom local and nationalnewspapers, radio, and TVstations, including the BikolReporter, GNN TV 48, DWSRPower Radio, Herald group,Mindanao Daily News, EdgeDavao, Sunstar, and more.
Media Coverage