Malawi Conference on Micro Health Insurance in Africa

Microfinance Focus, Sept. 10, 2009: The Pro MHI Africa team will organise a two-day conference on micro health insurance and health care financing from Dec. 2 to 3, 2009 in Lilongwe, in partnership with the EU-African University Network.
The conference is being organised as part of the international project “Pro MHI Africa – EU-African University Network to strengthen community-based micro health insurance”.
The project is a joint effort by the University of Cologne, University of Botswana, University of Ghana and University of Malawi, and constitutes a platform for various microinsurance stakeholders in Africa and worldwide.

Apart from the stakeholders in microfinance and micro health insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa, the conference is aimed at NGOs, researchers and health care professionals who work on the topic of health care financing in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Malawi. The last date for registration is November 10, 2009. The venue is Malawi Institute of Management Campus, Lilongwe, Malawi.

The main objectives of the conference are:

I Presentation of common Project outcomes

Common research results and general outcomes of the two year project will be presented at the conference and hence new information on the potential, efficiency and sustainability of Micro Health Insurance in Botswana, Ghana and Malawi will be disseminated. This presentation will form the basis for an open discussion on these topics. New evidence was gathered mainly within qualitative research as well as in the context of an extensive comparative household survey conducted in Botswana, Ghana and Malawi in 2008 and 2009.

II Insurance Education in Malawi and Best Paper Award

Aother aim of the conference is to raise awareness on Micro Health Insurance in Malawi as the common spread of micro health insurance units has not entered Malawi yet. Besides a presentation of the main research results of the project Pro MHI Africa in Malawi the winner of the Malawian Best Paper Award will be proclaimed. Furthermore, a round table with important stakeholders in the field of Micro Health Insurance in Malawi is intended to discuss further steps as well as initiate the establishment of a national network of potential micro health insurance practitioners, researchers and supporters in Malawi.

III Exchange and Dissemination of latest research results on Micro Health insurance in Africa

The Pro MHI Africa team would like to bring together national and international microfinance, microinsurance and micro health insurance experts in the context of the final conference to initiate a common discussion about the status quo of Micro Health Insurance in Africa. Therefore, several co-authors of the official Pro MHI Africa Handbook of Micro Health Insurance in Africa will join the conference and present their papers as well as conduct interactive workshops on specific topics.

For more details contact Lisa-Marie Rohrdantz, +49-221-4702646, lisa-marie.rohrdantz@uni-koeln.de

or visit the conference Website: http://www.microhealthinsurance-africa.org/final_conference.html

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