Abstract
In the global South, low-income populations are faced with frequent health shocks. Formal mechanisms to protect them against these shocks are absent or limited. Thus, what are the mechanisms used by low-income rural populations to finance healthcare? This paper draws on a qualitative study to examine the healthcare financing mechanisms of low-income rural populations in Cameroon. The findings suggest that low-income populations use 13 mechanisms to finance healthcare. Depending on several factors, people may use more than one of these mechanisms. In addition, social factors shape people’s patterns of usage of these mechanisms. Patterns of usage of these mechanisms are embedded in the principle of reciprocity. The notion of reciprocity does seem to discourage people from enrolling in the limited voluntary health insurance programmes which exist in various communities. Newly insured people were more likely to drop out if they did not receive a payout.
Highlights
Low-income populations—that is people living below national poverty lines—are exposed to numerous shocks.1 shocks are omnipresent among low-income populations in the globalSouth [1]
This paper addresses this puzzle by analysing primary data collected in rural Cameroon in order to provide a detailed account of the mechanisms used by low-income populations to finance healthcare
Low-income populations in rural Cameroon are faced with frequent health shocks
Summary
Low-income populations—that is people living below national poverty lines—are exposed to numerous shocks. shocks are omnipresent among low-income populations in the globalSouth [1]. Low-income populations—that is people living below national poverty lines—are exposed to numerous shocks.. Shocks are omnipresent among low-income populations in the global. Of all the risks faced by the poor, ill health often poses the greatest threat to their lives [2,3]. The mortality rate from illness and injury for adults below 60 is four times higher for women and two-and-a-half times higher for men in low-income countries than in high-income countries [4]. Several studies have highlighted the frequency of health shocks among the poor in the global South [5,6,7]. Health shocks are “unpredictable illnesses that diminish health status” [8] Uninsured health shocks are costly to individuals and households in terms of lost income and reduced consumption [9]
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