World Bank Loan to support India’s Health Sector

July 1, 2022

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved two complementary loans of USD 500 million each, for supporting and enhancing India’s health sector.

Key Facts

The financing of USD 1 billion by World Bank will support the “Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM)” scheme of India.
This scheme was launched in October 2021, for improve public healthcare infrastructure across India.
One of the loans will prioritize seven states including Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Kerala, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

India’s health performance

As per world bank’s estimate, India’s health performance has improved over time.
Life expectancy in India was at 69.8 in 2020 as opposed to 58 in 1990. It is higher than the average for the India’s income level.
Under-five mortality rate (36 per 1,000 live births), maternal mortality ratio (103 per 100,000 live births) and infant mortality rate (30 per 1,000 live births), are nearly equal to average for income level.

What are the two loans?

The two loans namely, Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP) and Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP) have been designed to be complementary and transformational. These loans will support Government’s reform agenda of accelerating universal coverage, increasing the resilience & preparedness and improving quality of India’s health system. Both of these programmes provide unique strengths to central & state governments in supporting the development of high-quality, accessible and affordable health services.

PHSPP’s support

This programme will support:

India’s surveillance system in detecting and reporting epidemics of potential international concern. It will ensure rapid response, as well as prevent emergence of pathogens.
India’s capacity of detecting pathogens, including zoonotic diseases.
It will build institutional capacity and strengthen coordination of core public health institutions, in a bid to implement program and deliver high-quality results.