Salud y Riqueza: Utilizando Las Microfinzanas para Mejores Resultados de Salud

El lunes 13 de junio, la Directora de Servicios de Salud y Desarollo Humano de Pro Mujer Gabriela Salvador, MD, MPH participó en un panel de discusión titulado ”Salud y Riqueza: Utilizando Microfinzanas para Mejores Resultados de Salud” en la conferencia anual del Global Health Council en Washington, DC.

El panel, que incluyó a otros participantes de Freedom from Hunger y Healthcare International Nigeria, estableció el escenario para un diálogo importante acerca de cómo se puede aprovechar la microfinanciación para avanzar en los resultados de salud para familias de bajos ingresos.

En la entrada de blog del 3 de junio de  Global Health, previa a la Conferencia GHC titulada, “¿Controversia de Microfinanzas? No Cuando se Trata de la Salud“,  Thierry van Bastelaer destacó cómo organizaciones como Pro Mujer están encontrando formas innovadoras de combinar la microfinanciación y atención de la salud a fin de maximizar el impacto. Van Bastelaer, dice, “las microfinanzas proveen una oportunidad no explotada y masiva para avanzar los resultados de salud para millones de familias pobres”.

Durante la conferencia, la Dra. Salvador utilizó el piloto de salud de Pro Mujer en Nicaragua como un caso para demostrar cómo entregamos atención primaria de salud de alta calidad, a bajo costos directamente a las clientas y como derivamos a nuestras clientas  a centros de atención secundaria. Para ver su presentación, haga clic en el vínculo (disponible en inglés), “Un Modelo para Ofrecer Servicios de Salud de Alto Impacto”.

ACTUALIZACIÓN: 23 de junio, Bloomberg publicó un artículo titulado, “Aumento Global del Cáncer Cuesta $300 Millones de Dólares en 2010, Dice Economista de Harvard”, destacando la necesidad urgente de enfrentar enfermedades crónicas y las enfermedades no transmisibles en los países desarrollados y en desarrollo.

En el artículo, David E. Bloom, Profesor de Economía y Demografía de la Escuela de Salud Pública de Harvard dice, “Las enfermedades no transmisibles evolucionarán y se convertirán en una gran carga económica en los próximos años …. Es un gran obstáculo para la mitigación de la pobreza.”

Bloom, quien es copresidente del proyecto ANTARES, que ha sido un socio de Pro Mujer en de México durante los últimos años (haga clic aquí para leer un artículo reciente de la Universidad Escuela de salud pública de Harvard sobre esta iniciativa) continúa, “la disminución global de productividad debido enfermedades y muertes por enfermedades no transmisibles llegará a US$35 trillones para el año 2030, una suma siete veces más grande que el actual nivel de gasto de salud mundial. Las enfermedades no transmisibles socavan capital físico y humano, como las pérdidas de trabajo ponen una carga sobre los países en desarrollo.”

Los resultados de nuestro proyecto de Nicaragua que estarán listos en el otoño, apoyarán la creciente urgencia de tomar medidas contra este problema cada vez más importante.

Wealth and Health: Leveraging Microfinance for Better Health Outcomes

On Monday, June 13^th, Pro Mujer’s Director of Health and Human Development Dr. Gabriela Salvador, MD, MPH, served on the “Wealth and Health:  Leveraging Microfinance for Better Health Outcomes” panel at the Global Health Council‘s (GHC) annual conference in Washington, D.C.

The event, which also included speakers from Freedom from Hunger and Healthcare International Nigeria, set the stage for an important dialogue about how microfinance can be leveraged to advance health outcomes for low-income families.

In a June 3^rd Global Health blog post leading up to the GHC conference titled, “Microfinance Controversy? Not When it Comes to Health,”  Thierry van Bastelaer highlights how organizations such as Pro Mujer are finding innovative ways to combine microfinance and health care in order to maximize impact. Van Bastelaer says, ”microfinance is a largely untapped, massive opportunity to advance health outcomes for millions of poor families.”

At the Conference, Dr. Salvador used Pro Mujer’s health pilot in Nicaragua as a case study to demonstrate how we deliver high-quality, low-cost primary health services directly to clients and/or refer them to secondary care centers. To view her presentation, click the link to her presentation, “A Model to Deliver High Impact Health Services.”

UPDATE – On June 23rd, Bloomberg published an article titled, “Global Rise in Cancer Cost $300 Billion in 2010, Harvard Economist Says” highlighting the urgent need to address chronic illnesses and noncommunicable diseases in both developed and developing countries.

In the article, David E. Bloom, Professor of Economics and Demography at Harvard’s School of Public Health says, ”Noncommunicable diseases will evolve into a staggering economic burden in the coming years…it’s a huge impediment to the mitigation of poverty.”

Bloom, who is a Co-Chair of Project ANTARES, which has been a Pro Mujer in Mexico partner for the past few years (click here to read a recent Harvard University School of Public Health article about this initiative) continues, ”The global decline in productivity due to illness and deaths from noncommunicable diseases will reach $35 trillion by 2030, an amount seven times larger than the current level of global health spending. Noncommunicable diseases undermine physical and human capital, as losses of labor put a burden on developing countries.”

The results from our Nicaragua project, which are due out this fall, will further support the growing urgency to take action against this increasingly important issue.

Voices from the Field: Pablo Salazar, Harvard Business School ’11 and Project Antares Team Member

Pablo Salazar

As a second year MBA student at Harvard Business School (HBS), I was looking for an opportunity to learn about health delivery models that could be applied in Mexico – my home country. I had the fantastic opportunity to get involved with Pro Mujer on a semester-long field study with the objective of helping develop a health service offering for the organization’s Mexico operations.

This opportunity was made possible with the help of an innovative partnership between HBS and Harvard’s School of Public Health (SPH) called Project Antares. Led by Professors Michael Chu of HBS and David Bloom from SPH, Project Antares focuses on sponsoring field studies that look at commercial approaches to delivering high-impact primary health care initiatives (or “interventions” as we call them in the industry) to low-income populations in developing countries. This program provided us with access to the knowledge and advice of two remarkable experts in the field in addition to accessing funding to conduct primary research and visit field operations.

Currently in its fourth year with Pro Mujer and collaborating with Dr. Gabriela Salvador – Pro Mujer’s Director of Health and Human Development and SPH alum – our goal was to create a framework that enabled us to analyze which health offerings are most valued by customers and which ones can have a bigger impact in their lives.

Using this framework as a baseline and a health pilot model already launched in the organization’s Nicaragua operations, Pro Mujer will design a health care pilot within its current organizational structure and business model. This model will include a basket of services that maximize the health impact for Pro Mujer’s clients while balancing it with interventions that have the biggest opportunity to be profitable as well as operationally and financially scalable. If the results of such a pilot are financially and socially positive, we believe there is huge upside potential.

A Pro Mujer client and Doctor at the organization’s health care facilities in Nicaragua.

Project Antares brought together the expertise and brainpower of Callae Snively, Felix Lam and Maaz Shaikh from SPH as well as Margarita de la Piedra, José Hartasanchez and I from HBS.  Definitely one of the most enriching experiences was working in such a diverse group, both in terms of different backgrounds as well as professional experience and skills. We really learned to leverage one another’s strengths in research, analytics and health practice knowledge.

Margarita de la Piedra (HBS 2011) and Callae Snively (SPH 2012)

The project got us dreaming about the fact that if we could either deliver health care to someone who is poor in a profitable way, or through the health offering, enhance Pro Mujer’s competitive position as a women’s development and microfinance organization, we could influence other organizations within the microfinance industry. This pilot as well as the one already at work in Nicaragua has the potential to show that it makes economic sense for microfinance institutions to offer health services. Competition and scalability would then follow.

Whether and when the Mexican pilot will happen remains to be answered and depends on the results of the market analysis currently underway by the Antares team, but the project reminded us of the challenges our world faces and the responsibility as leaders that we have in addressing them. For me, it was a fantastic experience to be able to apply the skills that I have acquired over these last two years at HBS and help an organization like Pro Mujer maximize the positive impact they create for women in Mexico. It was really inspiring to work hand in hand with Pro Mujer’s staff and leadership to understand the challenges that they face on a daily basis.

This project is another example of the field studies supported by HBS’s Social Enterprise Initiative which seeks to ensure that HBS becomes the best place at motivating students to become leaders who make a difference in the world.

Prior to entering HBS, Pablo Salazar worked at Pfizer Mexico for four years in Sales & Marketing. In addition to his involvement with the Antares project, Pablo worked on a field study with GlaxoSmithKline (a valued Pro Mujer partner) to define their long-term strategy in emerging markets. During his time at HBS, Pablo served as one of the main organizers of the School’s XIII Latin American Conference, which gathered diverse leaders interested in the future of the region. Upon graduation, Pablo looks forward to moving to New York and joining McKinsey & Company as a full-time Associate.