Women’s Health and Poverty Alleviation in India

Poverty and ill-health are intertwined; therefore, social responses need to address the links between the two. There has been increasing attention paid towards the role of microcredit as poverty alleviation strategy (that especially targets women), yet little scrutiny of how microcredit may influence population health in general and women’s health in particular. In this book, we ask: can microcredit be considered a "pro-health" poverty alleviation strategy for women? Using a multi-disciplinary approach, the linkages between poverty alleviation and women’s health are investigated from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. The theoretical perspective draws upon Amartya sen's capability approach and population health models and theories. The empirical perspective is based on a study examining female participation in self help groups (a form of microcredit) and their health in the South India state of Kerala.