A Bangladeshi government program introduced in 2007 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization, to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes in rural areas through demand-side financing. The Maternal Health Voucher Scheme distributes vouchers that let pregnant women access maternal health services without paying directly, piloted first in 21 sub-districts and later expanded to 33, with disadvantaged areas deliberately prioritized for inclusion using indicators such as literacy, population density, poverty and the presence of trained birth attendants; in nine of the sub-districts every pregnant woman is entitled to a voucher, an approach known as universal targeting, distinguishing them from sub-districts using narrower, means-tested criteria.
Facts
Program StatusActive, expanded from an initial pilot to current operation 1 Sponsoring BodyGovernment of Bangladesh, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 1 Target PopulationPoor pregnant women, initially under a universal approach in the poorest sub-districts and later under a means-tested approach in additional sub-districts 1 Health GoalImprove maternal and child health practices and reduce financial and institutional barriers to care 1 Geographic ScopePiloted in 21 sub-districts, currently operating in 53 of the 556 sub-districts in Bangladesh 1 Measured ResultsAmong children whose mothers were MHVS members, 93 percent were fully immunized compared with 84 percent for children of non-enrolled mothers, an adjusted odds ratio of 2.03 for full immunization coverage among MHVS beneficiary children 1 Program status (class) Classification
Program KindHealth Education Program 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Sultana et al. 2023: Maternal health voucher scheme and immunization coverage in Bangladesh (Frontiers in Public Health)Sultana, Nazia; Hossain, Aazia; Das, Hemel; Pallikadavath, Saseendran; Koeryaman, Mira; et al.
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Sources
1. Sultana et al. 2023: Maternal health voucher scheme and immunization coverage in Bangladesh (Frontiers in Public Health)
Sultana, Nazia; Hossain, Aazia; Das, Hemel; Pallikadavath, Saseendran; Koeryaman, Mira; et al., Frontiers in Public Health, 2023Abstract
Bangladesh initiated the Maternal Health Voucher Scheme (MHVS) in 2007 to improve maternal and child health practices and bring equity to the mainstream of health systems by reducing financial and institutional barriers.
Introduction section
The MHVS is considered one of the most critical programmes, in terms of maternal health, in Bangladesh.
Results section
Initially MHVS piloted in 21 sub-districts, and currently operates in 53 of the 556 sub-districts in Bangladesh
- Results section, immunization figures
- Introduction section, programme name
Associated With: Maternal and Child Health, Page text
The voucher scheme has both direct and indirect impact on the provision and uptake of various components of maternal and child health services.
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