Khartoum-February 27, 2008- A milestone in the Decentralized Health SystemDevelopment Project (DHSDP) is the distribution of Long Lasting InsecticidalNets (LLINs) in the four states targeted by the project, namely: SouthernKordofan, Blue Nile, Kassala and Red Sea. The DHSDP aims at improving theaccess to basic health services of about five million conflict-affected andunderserved populations in the target states. On September12th, 2007 theFederal Ministry of Health signed a contract with Vester Guaard Company,selected through international competitive bidding, for a total amount ofUS$1,124,000, to provide 179,100 LLINs to these war-affected areas. The allocation and distribution process followed the guidelines set by the National Malaria Control Program, which targets the most vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and under-five children. The share among the targeted states, proportional to the target population, is as follows: 89.500 for South Kordofan, 32.200 for Kassala, 30.500 for Red Sea, and 26.900 for Blue Nile. The DHSDP contribution represents 36% of the total number of bed nets distributed by the Malaria Program in 2006/2007 (incl. UNICEF and the Global Fund contributions). At the LLINs distributionceremony in Kassala, Dr. Babiker Ahmed, State Minister of Health, highlightedthe role of the DHSDP in improving the access of under-served and vulnerablepopulation to basic health services. He also mentioned the project's inputs toother national & vertical programs - such as the Schistosomiasis Program -as well as to the provision of drugs & medical supplies to primary healthcare facilities, the renovation of training facilities, and theconstruction/rehabilitation of health facilities in rural areas, among others. Dr. Mohamed Osman, DHSDPCoordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health emphasized the significance of the malaria-controlmeasures, and reaffirmed the project's commitment to maximize the impact ofhealth interventions by reaching out disadvantageous communities. A MDTF-N Grant of US$ 6 millionand GONU funding of US$ 13 million was signed on October 29, 2006 tofinance Phase 1 of the DHSDP. It aims at providing support to improve andexpand basic health services in selected states, while establishing the basisfor sustainable financing and development of a decentralized healthsystem. The World Bank is assigned therole of administering two Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) that were establishedto support priority activities for post-conflict Sudan. Pledges to both MDTFstotalize now US$ 586.6 million, of which US$508.5 million were pledged at theOslo Donor Conference in April 2005. The MDTF-National supports the Governmentof National Unity primarily in the reconstruction and development ofwar-affected and marginalized areas in the Northern states, while theMDTF-South supports the decentralization, recovery and development initiativesundertaken by the Government of Southern Sudan. As of January 31, 2007, theMDTF-National has committed US$177.6 million to support 11 projects, against aGoNU counterpart commitment of US$348.6 million. ### For more information aboutthe MDTFs activities in Sudanvisit MDTFs ===> http://www.mdtfsudan.org For more informationabout World Bank's activities in Sudan visit: Sudan CountrySite ===> http://www.worldbank.org/sudan Contacts:
In Khartoum: Nada Amin
Phone: + (249) 155155021 Ext 3016 namin@worldbank.org |
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