Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

On March 4-6, I had the opportunity to travel to Chittagong, the 2nd city of Bangladesh, to visit a local NGO called Young People in Social Action (YPSA). YPSA provides a range of health and other social services for diverse groups of people, including the disabled, particularly those who are visually impaired who, at 3 million people, make up almost 21% of the Bangladeshi population.

I recently visited Aurobindo Child Hospital in the Dinajpur district, nearly 350 kilometer North-West from the capital Dhaka of Bangladesh. The hospital is built on land given by Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram (a spiritual hermitage). Sri Aurobindo, born in Kolkata in 1872, had a vibrant and distinguished, known for his service, politics and spiritual leadership. After his death, his followers voluntarily built ashram’s in many different places of India and Bangladesh, many of which are still dedicated to serving humanity through the provision of health care.

From June 18 to 20, I visited TMSS (Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Shangstha), one of the larger national-level non-governmental women development organizations working in remote villages in Bangladesh to improve the socio-economic condition of the local population, especially women who may suffer from maternal and reproductive health issues.

The Beginning of the Microfinance Program
In the early 1980s, TMSS started it social amplification program from the village of Thengamara in the Bogra district in north-west of Bangladesh.

In a poorly resourced country like Bangladesh, low cost, community-based interventions can help change health seeking behavior. During pregnancy, health is neglected for a variety of social reasons. Public facilities are inadequate, not easily accessible to women, and plagued with long waiting times. Restriction on the movement of pregnant women, plus the cost of transportation, often mean women don’t access prenatal care on time. This can lead to maternal disability or death.