On February 19th, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition aired a story about Mali’s health care system. The story illuminates many of the barriers women face to accessing health care in Mali, within the context of Mali’s fee-for-service health system. Click here to listen to the story.

Project Muso’s programs work with local women to systematically identify and overcome these barriers, so that women and their families can equitably access health care. 

The Women’s Education Program trains women as Community Health Promoters, equipped with the knowledge and skills to improve health care access in their community. Through the Education Program and the Springboard Microfinance Program, women develop the skills they need to earn an income that helps them access tools of healthy living such as nutritious food, soap, and clean water. 

The Community-Based Malaria Prevention and Treatment Program, which Project Muso has been rolling out over the course of 2007 and 2008, aims to create a model health care delivery system, and overcome multiple obstacles that women face to accessing medical care for malaria and other illnesses. To ensure high quality malaria treatment, the program is in the process of:

• Creating a Solidarity Fund to ensure free access to healthcare and essential medicines for the poorest members of the Yirimadjo area;

• Training a team of local women to be Community Health Workers, who will diagnose, treat and cure simple cases of malaria in the home early before the disease progresses to its more advanced, deadly stages;

• Building infrastructure for the local clinic, which means increasing personnel, providing crucial equipment and constructing a new laboratory, pharmacy, and facilities for examinations, testing, counseling, and treatment.