Publication database

“Can health microinsurance (HMI) schemes achieve sustainability?” As with many seemingly simple questions, there is no simple answer. The answer to this question is of interest to a variety of parties. Insurance providers seek to understand if there is a viable business case for offering an HMI product. Health-care providers and pharmaceutical companies are interested in whether or not HMI can be a means for broadening coverage. Donors and other funding organizations want to know if HMI is a viable investment as a means to improve health-care access, health outcomes and financial protection for the low-income population. Governments consider how to use HMI schemes as a step towards universal health coverage.

Briefing Note 35 presents results from a review of the financial performance of five schemes in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Most providers of health microinsurance (HMI) can do more to understand the illness and claims patterns of insured clients. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that analysing claims data equips HMI practitioners with valuable insights to improve the client value and viability of HMI programmes. This brief summarizes a study that performs a comparative analysis of three South Asian HMI programmes – run by VimoSEWA, Uplift Mutuals and Naya Jeevan. These providers share a common geographic region and offer broadly similar insurance for hospitalization services to low-income households.

Value-added services are an increasingly important component of health microinsurance. Though evidence on their impact is limited, they demonstrate potential to increase demand and improve health outcomes. Briefing Note #16 provides an overview of current developments, highlights the experiences of those already providing them, and points to the potential they hold.

This factsheet briefly describes nine job centres in eight cities of Colombia which offer business counselling, entrepreneurship training, and career opportunities particularly to internally displaced persons, women, indigenous people and persons with disabilities.

Este articulo presenta diez consejos para que las empresas puedan construir y aprovechar el mercado que representa la base de la pirámide. Cada consejo está acompañado de breves casos de empresas latinoamericanas que de alguna u otra forma han aplicado dicho consejo.

This factsheet provides data on the size, opportunity and scope of the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) market in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This guide describes the ‘what and why’ of more responsible or sustainable tourism, and provides practical tips on how to do it. It describes various approaches including: how to bring local producers into the supply chain; building links with local farmers; employing local staff; how to involve local people and products in tours, packages and excursions; and how to manage internal change for developing local linkages.