In all the excitement around General Convention preparation and events, I've been unable to find time to provide an update about an exciting new project: The Anglican Health Network. The first informal meeting of this group took place in Houston in January. That meeting produced the background paper found here.
A follow-up meeting then took place in Geneva, Switzerland in June. I was honored to participate as a voice for parish-based health and healing ministries. I find this working group to be wonderfully engaged in the work and creative in finding solutions. Lee Hogan and Paul Holley have been very proactive conveners of this group and presented us with an exciting opportunity that has the potential to dramatically impact the lives of millions: a microinsurance project to be based principally in Africa.
Microinsurance is based on the principles of microlending or microfinance. As it pertains to insurance, if one provides health insurance that covers only the four or five primary needs, it's then feasible to cover large numbers of people for very little cost. For instance, in Africa coverage might be provided for treatment of malaria, HIV/AIDS, prenatal care/childbirth, and vaccines. It's possible this coverage could be provided to a family for as little as $12-15/year.
A lot of details and conditions have to be met for this to happen, but the members of the Anglican Health Network (AHN) believe it's possible. We're still in the very early planning stages, but it's an exciting project to be sure.
Other goals of the AHN include providing a forum for members to share ideas and resources, as well as a mechanism for hospitals to share outdated yet perfectly functional equipment with developing countries.
These are ambitious projects and I'm honored to be able to participate in this work as a representative of NEHM. I'll continue to keep you updated as we make progress. The background paper linked in the first paragraph has a lot of information about the various players and goals of this network, but if there are further questions please feel free to contact me.
Email
Permalink
