An Islamic microfinance approach to scaling up the economic life of vulnerable people with HIV/AIDS in the muslim society
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2020
Abstract
People with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) commonly pose problems to their family as well as to society because of their vulnerable health and economic conditions. Contrarily, PLWHA encounter social discrimination and adverse realities while finding it difficult to continue in their jobs. These complex phenomena interact to push them into a low economic status. A microfinance program can hopefully assist poor patients to cope with the negative economic consequences of this disease. But the conventional market-oriented microfinance institutions show reluctance to serve this group of people due to the possibilities of having credit risk. In this paper, we propose an alternative microfinancing technique that can provide a better economic life of the PLWHA while absorbing the credit risks. A comprehensive model is designed using specific Islamic financial instruments in conjugation with household economic portfolio theory. Critical realism method was adopted to construct this model. We concluded that the application of Islamic microfinance can enhance income of HIV patients while reducing the productivity-loss. This model can be useful to the microfinance practitioners and policymakers for addressing a different market segment, diversifying products, and formulating policy.
Keywords
Islamic microfinance, HIV, AIDS, Household economic portfolio, Poverty alleviation
Divisions
Education,Faculty_of_Business_and_Accountancy
Funders
None
Publication Title
Journal of Religion and Health
Volume
59
Issue
3
Publisher
Springer
Publisher Location
ONE NEW YORK PLAZA, SUITE 4600, NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES