African Poor Organizing Mutual Aid Societies

A few weeks ago, I posted about the vanished (for now) age of mutual aid societies in America. In Africa, the idea of mutual aid health care is being reinvented by people too poor to participate in conventional heatlh insurance:

Marc Lacey, New York Times, "Neglected Poor in Africa Make Their Own Safety Nets"
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"Some of these mutual health organizations, as they are known, include fewer than 100 beneficiaries. The tiny group negotiates with a local clinic and forges a better price for care. Others have linked dozens of community groups to produce sophisticated plans that cover 10,000 or more people and offer an array of services."

These dirt-poor folks are using what they have to take charge of their own fates. Good for them.