Microfinance Programmes and Hepatitis C Screening/Treatment Access Among Rural Senegalese Women in São Tomé and Príncipe: A Systematic Literature Review

Microfinance programmes have been implemented in various regions to improve access to financial services, including healthcare. In rural areas of Senegal and São Tomé and Príncipe, microfinance initiatives aim to empower women economically by providing small loans, savings accounts, and insurance products. A comprehensive search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies, including electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Studies published between and were considered for inclusion based on predefined eligibility criteria. The review identified a significant proportion (78%) of microfinance programmes in rural Senegal provided health insurance coverage that included hepatitis C screening services as an optional benefit, although uptake was low due to financial constraints and lack of awareness about the disease. Microfinance programmes can play a role in increasing access to hepatitis C screening and treatment among rural women by incorporating these benefits into their service offerings. However, further research is needed to understand how to improve programme participation and efficacy. Future studies should focus on developing targeted awareness campaigns for microfinance clients about hepatitis C prevention and treatment options within the health insurance framework of their programmes. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.