Combining community responses to HIV/AIDS work with health insurance and micro finance schemes, Burkina Faso

© Gideon Mendel 2004 for International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Burkina Faso is a poor country where life expectancy is just over 40 years. More than 80% of the population live in rural areas and over 40% live under the absolute poverty level. HIV prevalence is over 4% and there are an estimated 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and 260,000 orphans.

Against this backdrop, Initiative Privée et Communautaire Contre le SIDA au Burkina Faso (IPC), the Alliance linking organisation, is supporting two local organisations – Aquadev and Strategies and Tools Against Social Exclusion and Poverty/Bureau International du Travail (STEP/BIT) – to integrate HIV/AIDS work, small-scale loans and health insurance schemes for community members. This model aims to improve the income of households affected by HIV/AIDS so that they can better care for orphans and vulnerable children. The money they receive helps them to cope better in times of financial crisis, and when medical costs arise.

The work focuses on providing grants to community groups which, in turn, give small loans to individuals, often women, to set up small-scale businesses. This might involve anything from sheep farming to dyeing or wood-selling. The businesses are expected to provide a profit – allowing their owners to pay back their loan, strengthen their business and, when needed, cover the medical and other costs associated with caring for someone with HIV and children orphaned by HIV.

In 2004, this collaborative work led to improving the income of 250 orphans and vulnerable children in Ouagadougou.