The World Bank Provides $90 million to Improve Health Care Access and Quality in Chad
WASHINGTON: The World Bank has approved a $90 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA)* to help Chad improve the use and quality of delivery of essential health services.
The Health System Performance Strengthening Project (PRPSS) aims to build the capacity of Chad’s health system to offer quality health care at the operational level and increase the use of health services by populations in the project areas. Particular attention will be paid to reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health, as well as to nutrition services in all health districts in the eight provinces supported by the project.
“While considerable efforts have focused on the COVID-19 response in Chad, there is a significant risk of weakening the health system and undermining the response to the population’s other health needs,” notes Clara Ana Coutinho de Sousa, World Bank Country Director for Chad. “The World Bank intends to provide an adequate response through the Health System Performance Strengthening Project, by using its operational tools and working closely with the government and the other partners.”
This new project—the total cost of which is $106.5 million with $16.5 million in cofinancing from the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children and Adolescents—will help improve the quality of health services in a number of ways, including by (i) institutionalizing performance-based financing (PBF); (ii) allocating resources directly to health facilities in proportion to the quality and quantity of the health services offered to the population; (iii) paying performance bonuses to the staff of health facilities in the project area; (iv) providing free maternal and child health care services to the poorest and most vulnerable at the project-supported health facilities in order to ensure equity; and (v) concluding performance contracts with health districts, provincial health directorates, and the central directorates of the Ministry of Public Health and National Solidarity, which include specific quarterly deliverables. These various mechanisms will help improve regulation, leadership and stewardship, governance, coordination and the separation of roles.
“This project will address two drivers of fragility: it will improve the flow of funds to health centers and district and provincial hospitals, and will promote the accountability of health facilities and decision-making that is closer to the communities, as well as ensure that resources are used more effectively and efficiently. Health services in the country’s underserved regions will therefore help reduce social exclusion in the provinces,” noted Rasit Pertev, World Bank Country Manager for Chad.
*The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Established in 1960, it provides grants and low- to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. IDA resources help effect positive change in the lives of the 1.6 billion people living in the countries that are eligible for its assistance. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments are constantly on the rise and have averaged $21 billion over the past three years, with about 61% going to Africa.