Contacts: In Kabul: Abdul Raouf Zia (93) 700 280800 Azia@worldbank.org In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735 enora@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, May 15, 2008 ─ The World Bank today approved a US$20 million grant to support the Government of Afghanistan’s effort to expand delivery of basic health services, including in insecure areas of the country. The second additional financing to the Health Sector Emergency Reconstruction and Development Project is designed to reduce infant and child mortality, maternal mortality, child malnutrition, and increase access to reproductive health through the expansion of basic health care services. The grant will increase the Ministry of Public Health’s stewardship over the sector, including a greater role in healthcare financing, coordination of partners, and oversight of NGOs work. It will also further build the capacity of Afghan health workers to provide and manage health services. “Looking at recent data on the health sector, Afghanistan has made significant progress in improving the provision of primary health services throughout the country,” saidEmanuele Capobianco, World Bank Public Health Specialist and the Task Team Leader. “However, despite remarkable achievements, the health status of the country remains among the worst in the world. This additional grant will help ensure provision of health services to rural areas where hundreds of thousands of people, mainly women and children, die every year because no such service exists.” The Ministry of Public Health has made significant progress in expanding access to basic health services and improving the quality of care since the World Bank approved the US$59.6 million grant for the original Health Sector Emergency Reconstruction and Development Project in June 2003 and the subsequent first additional grant support in February 2006. Notable among these achievements are significant increases in the availability of health services for the Afghan people. An independent evaluation by John Hopkins University (JHU) indicates that the quality of care has improved 32 percent from 2004 to 2007 and the number of patients served has more than tripled. A recent, independently conducted by JHU, household survey indicates that the under-5 mortality rate in Afghanistan declined from an estimated 257 per 1,000 live births in 2001 to about 191 per 1,000 in 2006. This means that about 80,000 fewer children are dying each year now, compared to during the Taliban rule. More than 300 new health facilities have been established and thousands of community health workers have been trained. Yet the health status of approximately 23 million Afghans remains among the worst in the world. Due to the high infant and under five mortality rates, life expectancy in Afghanistan is only 43 years. The nutritional status of women and children is also very poor. Thirty-nine percent of children under five are underweight, and more than half of Afghan children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The grant will finance the extension of basic health services provision under the existing performance based partnership agreements (PPAs) to be continued for another 9 months. Since the provision of services in insecure areas is one of the biggest challenges in Afghanistan, the government plans to experiment with different supply and demand-side interventions to increase the utilization of health services in Helmand, one of the most insecure provinces in the country. The successful elements of the Helmand pilot could be replicated in other insecure areas under future operations. The grant is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. For more information on the Bank’s work in Afghanistan, please visit http://www.worldbank.org.af For project information, please visit: http://go.worldbank.org/HE3OABJQ20. |
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