Micro health insurance programmes and access of health services: a case study of Sampoorna Suraksha programme of SKDRDP

The primary objective of microfinance has always been developmental in nature, aimed at removing poverty and hunger. But these cannot be met adequately without addressing the issue of health. For microfinance to achieve its objective of providing financial security to the poor, it has to address health security as a crucial element of social security. India's microfinance sector has become a promising platform for reaching the poor with vital health information, products, and services. Scores of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and self-help promoting institutions (SHPIs) regularly educate their clients and members on a wide range of health topics. There is a renewed focus on social performance throughout the sector. An otherwise difficult situation has created an opportunity for microfinance to tackle one of the biggest barriers to economic advancement of the poor: ill health. Preventing NCDs is important for eliminating poverty and hunger because these diseases have a negative impact on productivity and family income and also because a substantial proportion of household income is spent on health care in low-income countries. The Sampoorna Suraksha was started as an integral part of the tradition of disbursing charity prevalent at a temple trust an important place of worship in the coastal part of the Karnataka state which is the Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP). Sampoorna Suraksha is a unique comprehensive micro health insurance programme launched by the SKDRDP in the year 2004. MFI sector and SHG networks has emerged as a unique, relatively low-cost mechanism for delivery and financing of health-related services to poor families.