World Bank Loan for Strengthening Health System: Meghalaya

• 02 Nov 2021

Why in News

Recently, India and the World Bank signed a USD 40 million for Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • Infection Prevention: The project will invest in infection prevention and control for a more resilient response to future outbreaks, pandemics, and health emergencies.
  • Bio-medical Waste Management: The project will invest in improving the overall ecosystem for bio-medical waste management (both solid and liquid waste).
    
    • It will include segregation, disinfection, and collection while safeguarding the environment and improving the quality of health service and patient safety.
  • Performance-based Financing System: The project will move towards a performance-based financing system where Internal Performance Agreements (IPAs) between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and its subsidiaries would foster more accountability at all levels.
    
    • Performance Agreements define accountability for specific personal and organizational goals. It establishes and agrees results-oriented goals that are aligned with the overall objective, and it concludes with the formal, signed commitment to the agreement.
  • Promoting Synergy: It will also focus on promoting synergy between various schemes and augment the capacity of the state insurance agency.
• Significance:
  
  • Enhances Governance Capabilities:
    
    • It will enhance the management and governance capabilities of the state and its health facilities; expand the design and coverage of the state’s health insurance program; improve the quality of health services through certification and better human resource systems; and enable efficient access to medicines and diagnostics.
  • Strengthen Health Insurance Programme:
    
    • It will help strengthen the effectiveness of Meghalaya’s health insurance program known as the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) – which currently covers 56% of the households.
  • Women Empowerment:
    
    • It will enable women to better utilize healthcare services at the community level.

World Bank

• About:
  
  • It was created in 1944, as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IBRD later became the World Bank.
  • The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership of five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
• Members:
  
  • It has 189 member countries.
  • India is also a member country.
• Major reports:
  
  • Ease of Doing Business (Stopped publishing recently).
  • Human Capital Index.
  • World Development Report.
• Its Five development institutions:
  
  • International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
  • International Development Association (IDA)
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC).
  • Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
  • International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
    
    • India is not a member of this.

Source: PIB