Dhading, being just around 70 kilometer from country’s capital, has very limited health facilities with few hospitals and health centers.
As the result, people used to prefer traditional methods of health check-ups like visiting shaman rather than hospitals.
However, it is not the case now.
Dhading people visit health centers and hospitals even for a small problem in their health regardless of the distance.
And this was proved possible after women in the district, through collective effort, began a community-based micro health insurance program in 2011.
With the aim to aware people towards health and increase poor-people’s access to health centers and hospitals, a small group of woman initiated the program. Establishing a trust named Swoubhagya Laghu Swastya Surakshya Kosh, the group of women voluntarily continued health awareness program in the district.
Under the program, those who become the member of this trust will have to pay a charge of Rs 405 per annum. However, if more than three family members of a household are interested to become the member, an individual will be given 10 percent discount on the annual charge.
Each member of the trust will be given Rs 3,000 from the trust if he/she is admitted any time in hospital. Even though the member has to be repeatedly admitted in the hospital, he/she will be assisted up to Rs 40,000 in a year from the trust.
Similarly, a member undergoing x-ray is paid Rs 6, 00 each time, while Rs 5, 00 will be given for the lab test of members. This sort of financial assistance to members will be given as per the bills and reports of the hospital or health posts.
“Initially, it was really difficult to convince people towards the program and make them the member of this trust,” Shanta Khadka, chairman of the organization said, adding, “Later on when people witnessed the benefit of being the member, we witnessed massive participation and support in this program.”
Informing that women and other member of around fifteen VDCs of the district are directly taking benefit of the program, Khadka said, “As of now, the program has been benefitting 21,068 members of 5,522 households.”
The trust currently has Rs 6.5 million collected through registration charges of members out of which members have already been issued Rs 1.5 million for their health check-ups in different phases.
Other members of the program believe that though the initiative has been assisting its members financially in health check-ups, it has massively developed the habit of visiting hospitals and health posts thereby making people conscious towards personal health.
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