BM Report
Bangladesh is going to receive a $200 million loan from the World Bank to improve healthcare services in different cities and municipalities, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
The World Bank approved a fund under the Urban Health, Nutrition, and Population Project that will help Bangladesh improve primary healthcare services for treatment, prevention, and referral for common illnesses, including mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, and medical waste management in Dhaka’s North and South City Corporations, Chattogram City Corporation, and Savar and Tarabo municipalities.
About 2.5 million children under 5 in these urban areas will receive services.
“Urban areas have limited public healthcare facilities. Hence, poor people and slum dwellers are often forced to turn to more expensive private healthcare,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “Further, with high population density, climate change, and rapid urbanization, new health challenges are emerging, including an increase in dengue cases and infectious and non-communicable diseases.
This loan will also support the hypertension screening and follow-up of about 1.3 million adults. To reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on medical care for the poor, the project will renovate selected existing public health facilities, including government outdoor dispensaries and family planning clinics. Over 250,000 women will receive at least four checkups during pregnancy.
It will support the development and implementation of a multi-sectoral strategy to manage disease outbreaks in cities and municipalities.
“An overreliance on fogging or spraying targeting adult mosquitoes and untargeted larval control is not an efficient use of resources,” said Iffat Mahmud, Senior Operations Officer at the World Bank and Task Team Leader for the Project. As the mosquito life cycle is influenced by climatic conditions, the project will strengthen the mosquito control laboratory and build capacities to implement innovative mosquito control measures and other community-based interventions.”
The credit is from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, and has a 30-year term with a five-year grace period.
