SSP partners with over 4403 women's groups, Self Help Groups (SHGs), comprising a total of 52,414 members in 5 districts throughout rural Maharashtra to address gaps in services and encourage communities to take a holistic view of their health needs. Launched in 2002, grassroots women leaders and educators are the driving force behind the program - holding health providers accountable, raising awareness, and addressing the health needs of the community.
SSP's approach includes:
- Drive grassroots demand for better health by strengthening the link between the community and government service providers.
- Decrease the prevalence of disease by encouraging communities to proactively take control of their health and well being.
- Protect families from the economic shock of health costs through a community based health fund.
- Increase awareness about proper health, sanitation, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS through education campaigns and health camps.
SSP's programs include:
Health Governance Groups (HGG): Initiated in July of 2008, HGGs are groups formed from individual health promoters. HGG members collaborate with government health practitioners to improve services and raise awareness about government programs. In order to improve the overall health of the community, HGG organize village health campaigns, hold village health check up camps and host workshops on nutrition and sanitation. There are 30 HGG groups comprising a total of 650 women.
Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) and Community HIV/AIDS Awareness: In the fall of 2007, SSP partnered with the State of Maharashtra on its PPTCT program using a peer education platform. Peer health educators proactively seek out pregnant women and encourage them to take a holistic view of their maternal health including getting tested for HIV. Peer health educators host HIV/AIDS awareness camps to educate the larger community about HIV/AIDS and available government services. In 2008, 11,930 pregnant women were tested for HIV, of which 83 were found positive.
Community Based Health Mutual Fund (CBHMF): In response to the exorbitant costs of healthcare, SSP partnered with Uplift India in 2006 to launch CBHMF, a community based health fund, to insulate families from burden of healthcare bills. Members pay 100 rupees (2USD) per year which entitles them to up to 80% reimbursement of hospital costs, discounted services within CBHMF's network of service providers and 24/7 referral services from Arogya Sakhis. SSP offers inpatient discounts of 50 percent on consultation fees from several local physicians and discounts on medicines of between 40 percent and 70 percent. Claims are processed within 20 days of hospitalization. As of March 2009, there are more than 13,000 policy member in the district of Osmanabad and Solapur.
In late 2009, SP and Swasth India Services Private Limited partnered to launch a Community Health Fund. The fund will offer a health product that includes health insurance for inpatient care and cashless delivery. It will also offer an outpatient component to be delivered through a network of local physicians, diagnostic centers and drug dispensing units, coordinated by community health workers. This project will last for a minimum of three years. In the first 2 year phase, the product will be rolled out in 100 villages in 2 districts in the state of Maharashtra, having a total population of 250,000 – 300,000 people.
