$100m health grant signed with WB

KABUL Action in Transition (SEHAT) Program.

The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) Grant aims to help the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) expand the scope, quality and coverage of basic health and hospital services.

Covering rural and urban areas in 22 of the country’s 34 provinces, the programme would strengthen the national health system and build the capacity of the Ministry of Public Health to effectively perform its stewardship functions.

Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said on the occasion: “Provision of health care to the people remains one of the main priorities of the government during the transition.”

SEHAT follows two earlier projects financed by the World Bank. With this new financing, the World Bank has provided a total of $335 million since 2003, including support from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF).

This funding would be further supplemented by a proposed ARTF funded grant of $270 million, including European Union and government contribution of $30 million.

Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil acknowledged: “The World Bank’s support has been instrumental in enabling us to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghans, particularly women and children.”

Encouraging achievements in the health sector over the past decade had been possible because of the

Ministry of Public Health’s commitment to improving health services and measuring service delivery performance, observed Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank acting country director.

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