Govt. signs $ 110 m ADB loan to implement Health Systems Enhancement Project

The Government has mobilised a loan of $ 110 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a grant of $ 3 million provided by ADB-managed Japanese Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), to implement the Additional Financing of Health Systems Enhancement Project (HSEP).

The additional financing will be used to expand of the output of a well-performing ongoing project, addressing the Government’s urgent financing requirements to support and manage the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, and the replacement of above reallocated funds to complete the originally planned activities mainly related to primary healthcare (PHC) development.

The collective impact of the original and the additionally financed projects continue to be aligned with the original project impact which is building a healthier nation ensured with a more comprehensive PHC system and to support COVID-19 pandemic management.

The total project cost is estimated as $ 123 million including the Government contribution of $ 10 million. The project is scheduled to be completed by 30 November 2025.

In early 2020, with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, $ 15 million from the ongoing HSEP, was reallocated for the emergency activities related to scaling up of the capacity of molecular biology laboratory, increasing the accessibility to emergency medical equipment at hospitals, expanding high dependency and intensive care units, expanding oxygen accessibility, and increasing the availability of consumables like surgical masks, personal protection equipment (PPE) and reagents and other consumables for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and screening of COVID-19.