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Thursday, 24 January 2019 03:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka has signed up for $200 million in funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank to implement the Primary Healthcare System Strengthening Project, the Finance Ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The development objective of the proposed project is “to increase the utilisation and quality of primary health care services, with an emphasis on detection and management of non-communicable diseases in high-risk population groups, in selected areas of the country.”
This objective will be achieved by supporting the reorganisation and strengthening of the Sri Lankan primary health care system. Specifically, the project will support the development and roll out of policies and standards and strengthening of various supportive systems. The project will lay the foundation for a more integrated, coordinated, and people-centred delivery system.
The primary beneficiaries of the project will be the users of public Primary Health Care (PHC) Institutions in the selected communities of the country. The primary users of the public PHC Institutions tend to be the poorer segments of the population. Within the communities supported by the project, those who are most at risk of having or developing a severe or catastrophic Non-communicable Disease (NCD) will be the primary target. Project interventions will benefit the health sector staff at the central and provincial levels by strengthening their capacities and making resources available to plan and execute the strategy for strengthening PHC services.
The project will consist of the implementation of the PHC System Reorganisation and Strengthening Strategies, project Implementation Support and Innovation Grants and Contingent Emergency Response Component.
A Project Steering Committee (PSC) will be established and co-chaired by the secretaries of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and Ministry of Internal and Home Affairs and Provincial Councils and Local Governments. The additional members will consist of Secretary to the Finance Commission, nine Provincial Chief Secretaries, and representatives from the central Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and provincial Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.
The financing agreement of the aforementioned project was signed by Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough on behalf of the World Bank, at the Ministry of Finance and Mass Media.
