Access to healthcare services in Mali is limited due to financial barriers. The USAID-funded Keneya Sinsi Wale (Health Systems Strengthening, Governance, and Financing) activity supports local public-private partnerships to reduce financial barriers and guarantee more Malian citizens access to healthcare.
Amplification of Health Mutuals
The project has deployed dynamic initiatives to strengthen mutual health insurance schemes – which is a consensual mechanism set up with a community to prepay for health services – in Kadiolo and Sikasso regions, including the health districts of Kigan and Niena. This approach has enabled new mutuals to be set up and has led to the formation of initiative committees. Simultaneously, USAID provided financial and operational support to revitalize the Koutiala mutual. This resulted in a considerable increase in the number of members and beneficiaries in the Koutiala, Bandiagara, and Mopti mutuals.
Geographic expansion
The expansion of mutual health insurance schemes has been a key element in this success. Feasibility studies were undertaken in several regions, including Djenné, Baraoueli, Bla, Ségou, Bougouni, Kolondieba, Sikasso and Kadiolo. This expansion broadened the scope of the mutual health insurance schemes, reaching a greater number of people in the intervention zones.
Impressive results
From April to June 2023 results demonstrate the project’s impact. In Koutiala, membership increased 122%. Similarly, the number of beneficiaries increased 167%, while the number of service beneficiaries increased 54%. These results were achieved through training, information, awareness-raising sessions, and implementation of the skills learned at these sessions.
Successful awareness-raising and resource mobilization
To mobilize local resources, the project supported awareness-raising sessions in the Mopti and Bandiagara regions. As a result, 3,080 individuals enrolled in a mutual health insurance plan, 1,635 of whom joined the Bandiagara mutual and 1,445 in Mopti. Simultaneously, the collaboration with town councils has enabled USAID Sinsi Wale to mobilize significant funds, totaling more than U.S. $ 559,000 (CFA francs 344,863,397) from April to June 2023.
We thank the project, as it provided a valuable opportunity to foster greater community commitment to this creation process, as hope is born, particularly in communes not yet covered by mutual insurance schemes. Most of the players present at these days were in favor of the creation of the mutual, which is a promising sign for the future”, stressed Mamadou Sangaré, Mayor of Kaleké commune.
