Niger: World Bank Approves US$35 Million to Improve Health Outcomes and Fight Malaria

Contacts:

In Washington: Aby Toure 202 473 8302

akonate@worldbank.org

In Niger: Paul Dossou-Yovo (227) 72 21 88

pdossouyovo@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, January 5, 2006 – The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit[1] of US$35 million to help the Government of Niger provide better access for poor people to key social services, to strengthen the performance of the national health system, and to better combat malaria which kills hundreds of children every year and sickens thousands of other people. .

According to World Bank officials in Niger, the aim of the new program—the Institutional Strengthening and Health Sector Support Project— is to establish a healthcare system that more effectively meets the needs of the people of Niger. It will help to reduce the deaths of mothers and young children by improving the health system’s capacity, and effectiveness to provide essential health services, especially targeted at poor women and children.

The project will boost government efforts to carry out the National Health Development Plan (NHDP) which is designed to increase people’s access to, and use of, good quality health services, including reproductive health activities.  It will also reinforce the decentralization of health services to local communities, promote greater community participation, improve management and strengthen institutional capacities within the Ministry of Health.

In addition, the new program will attract and retain skilled staff by reviewing working conditions and overall wage and salary levels as part of a wider effort to improve personnel policies.  It will also develop performance-based management systems which will be critical to  delivering the new health services that will in turn reduce maternal and child mortality.

“Poor and under-served people in Niger will gain increased access to quality essential healthcare, with special attention being given to effective delivery of major public health programs that are critical to reducing maternal and child mortality,” said Djibrilla Karamoko, the World Bank Task Team Leader of the project. 

The Institutional Strengthening and Health Sector Support Project also marks the third installment of the Bank’s Booster Program for Malaria Control in Africa, launched on Africa Malaria Day in April, 2005, which has now provided new anti-malaria support to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia as part of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. 

The Project will support malaria control within the context of the broader health sector development plan and includes financing of US$10 million to rapidly increase bednet use and other preventive measures, as well as improve access to effective treatment. Increased use of long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets, for instance, could reduce child deaths by as much as one-fifth.  All of Niger’s population is at risk of endemic malaria, with significant risk of epidemics occurring during the rainy season.

“Controlling malaria in Niger is a clear priority for the Bank. This preventable and treatable disease kills thousands of children under the age of five every year, and sickens many hundreds of thousands of other people. By fighting this long-neglected illness, we can help the country to improve the general health of its population, at the same time as removing a significant barrier to boosting national growth and development,”said Vincent Turbat, the World Bank’s Country Manager for Niger.

For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr

For more information about World Bank’s activities in Niger please click here

For more information about the project, please visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64027221&piPK=64027220&theSitePK=382450&menuPK=382484&Projectid=P083350