WB provides another $150m for healthcare

The World Bank has approved $150 million in additional financing to help strengthen Bangladesh's health systems and improve health services, particularly for the poor.

The additional financing will be in support of the government's Health Sector-wide Programme.

The support will help the government address health sector challenges, including sustaining and improving immunisation coverage; further improving deliveries for pregnant women at public health facilities; and tackling multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. It will also help Bangladesh improve public financial management to get more value from its public spending on health.

Furthermore, the financing will support development of a robust health information system, including a web-based complaint-handling mechanism, said the Washington-based multilateral lender in a statement yesterday.

"Bangladesh's progress in improving health outcomes is remarkable. Yet many Bangladeshis struggle to access quality health services, costing the economy millions of dollars in days lost due to poor health," said Qimiao Fan, World Bank's country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

"Since 1998, we have been supporting the government-led programme to address the remaining challenges in the health sector to ensure quality health care for all citizens."

The Health Sector Development Programme and its predecessors have contributed to a 40 percent reduction in maternal mortality since 2010.

Bangladesh has reduced under-five child mortality by 29 percent between 2007 and 2014, and during the same period, births attended by medically-trained professionals increased from 21 percent to 42 percent.

The additional financing will only be disbursed against the achievements of agreed results corresponding to the challenges and priority areas, the WB said.

"It will follow a new fund disbursement modality linked to the achievement of disbursement-related results, which will pave the way for more results-based intervention in the future," said Bushra Alam, World Bank Task Team Leader for the project.

With this additional financing, the WB's support to the project now stands at $508.9 million.

The credit from the WB's International Development Association, which provides grants or zero-to-low interest loans, has a 38-year term, including a six-year grace period, and a service charge of 0.75 percent.