World Bank Provides Support for a Healthier Ukraine | WPN World People News

On March 4, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$214.73 million loan for the Serving People, Improving Health Project to support the implementation of reforms and improved service delivery in Ukraine’s health sector.

The new five-year project will seek to develop medical infrastructure and improve the quality of health services in eight regions across the country. The investment will focus on introducing a new funding mechanism within hospitals and enhancing primary and secondary prevention, early detection, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

It is expected to improve first aid services and bring legislative acts in line with best international practices, raising the efficiency of the healthcare system in Ukraine.

“Given that most Ukrainians consider health as one of their top life priorities, we are pleased to support a project that will help them become healthier,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. “This new investment will help improve the quality and availability of health services to millions of Ukrainians in selected regions, and contribute to more efficient use of resources in the healthcare system.”

The project’s main component covers the following participating regions: Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Poltava, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattya, and Zaporizhya. Out of the project’s total budget, the Bank will fund up to US$41 million per region, plus at least 10 percent coming in co-financing from the local authorities.

Another project component to be implemented by the Ministry of Health will be dealing with health financing, capacity building, e-health/information systems, and, finally, public outreach to increase awareness of the main risk factors, helping to prevent cardiovascular diseases and cancer. There will also be a small implementation component, with project management and monitoring and evaluation.

“We believe that this project will be the driving force for the reform, which will change the country’s healthcare and, in 2015, it will build the foundation for fundamental reforms and make them irreversible in the future,” Ukrainian Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili said.

Source: World Bank