According to the “Tracking universal health coverage: 2017 global monitoring report” by the World Health Organization and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in India alone, about 50-60 million people in the last decade have been pushed to poverty because of health-related expenditure[1]. The poor lose up to 1-2 months of productive time in a year to illness of self and family. Almost 50-80% of them live with some form of undiagnosed illnesses and die earlier than those who are economically better off[2]. To address this issue and break the vicious cycle of ill health and poverty, Swasti’s Invest for Wellness (i4We) programme has brought primary care to the doorstep of 2 lakh+ of the poorest and most marginalised people. Their aim is to reach 100 million well-thy days[3] by the year 2030.
The programme is currently being implemented across 4 States and 5 locations in urban and rural areas in India – Sehore District (2 blocks) in Madhya Pradesh; Ramanagara District (1 taluka), , and Bengaluru urban district in Karnataka; Karur urban in Tamil Nadu; and Gurugram in Haryana. The model is designed to have local community leadership through not just frontline health workers, but through health focused groups and a local community institution, equivalent of the Mahila Arogrya Samiti. Each family is a “member” and actively participate in their well-being journey, actively being navigated through health information, advice and services (screening, treatment and care services and referral) , social protection (awareness,eligibility and facilitation of government identity and schemes) as well as financial literacy and services (savings and credit)