The vision of Universal Health Coverage is that all people can obtain the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship. Financial inclusion and private sector investment can bring that vision to life."
Annie Wang, Head of Global Health at Opportunity International
When you empower individuals with knowledge and improve access to healthcare, entire communities thrive.
Combining health training, community-based care and finance, we partner with women to keep their families healthy.
HOW WE HELP
Our goal is to improve the overall health of communities living in poverty and prevent illness and catastrophic health spending through through education, finance and access to better health services.
Opportunity’s health program aims to serve entire communities – particularly women and their families – by empowering community leaders in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal – with plans to expand to the Philippines and Africa.
The result: improved health for the community, a reliable source of income for health leaders and options around health care for rural and remote areas outside of urban centre. Health Leaders train communities of prevention and wellbeing, covering nutrition, menstrual health, maternal and child care, on non-communicable and infectious diseases including tuberculosis.
Opportunity's unique solution
Empowering Health Leaders – training women to deliver health education and provide health services and products, including telehealth, to improve health and resilience in their communities and improve their income.
Train Health Entrepreneurs – providing holistic, end-to-end support to improve the products and care provided by community pharmacies, often the first point of contact for families when experiencing health issues or requiring primary healthcare.
Developing health finance solutions – supporting financial institutions to fund health entrepreneurs and develop innovative products for people living in poverty to prevent and manage catastrophic health expenses.
How a Health Leader improves her community
A small loan gives a woman the opportunity to start a small business and improve the lives of her family with increased income.
Health Leader training is offered in the community and the Health Leader signs up to attend six months of training in essential healthcare and sanitation.
The Health Leader maps needs within her community during her training allowing her to more fully understand the community's health issues and solutions.
Families are reached in the local community, and community health improves as essential health and hygiene knowledge is shared and sanitation practices are improved.
In 2025, we reached
801,789 families
through health training and care in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Maternity loan supporting Manisha’s choice of care
Manisha, 24, and her husband, living in a slum in Mumbai, faced financial challenges when expecting their second child in September 2024. They chose to deliver the baby in her home village of Parbani, Maharashtra, where they had family support and more space. However, the cost of her antenatal care and delivery, including travel to a private hospital two hours away, came to INR 50,000 (around A$930). To help cover these expenses, Manisha took out a maternity loan of INR 25,000 (A$464).
“The loan gave me peace of mind during my delivery,” Manisha said. “I could spend my pregnancy in the village and deliver at the hospital of my choice. Otherwise, I would have had to spend my pregnancy in Mumbai’s overcrowded slum in unhygienic conditions." The financial support allowed her to prioritise her health and comfort while ensuring a safe delivery without the strain of financial concerns.
Together maternity wallets, affordable health loans and health mutuals insurance are ensuring more women and babies get a healthy start and are able to thrive.
Spotlight on: Health Finance
In urban slums across India, low-income families face a dual crisis: steep out-of-pocket healthcare costs and limited access to financial tools that could help manage these expenses.
Together with our local partner, Opportunity has launched an innovative, community-led Health Finance initiative, combining affordable health finance with primary care and preventative health services in urban slums.
Three products have been developed in response to community needs:
- Emergency medical loans
- Health savings accounts and maternity wallets
- Health Mutual Insurance.
Your support in 2026 can help us reach even more women with solutions to help finance their families' futures.