The FINANCIAL — The World Bank’s Board of Directors on September 21 approved a financing of EURO 120 million to the Health System Strengthening and Support Project of Turkey.
The World Bank has supported the Government’s health sector reforms and implementation strategy for the past decade through a series of Adaptable Program Loans and contributed to the Health Transformation Program that is being implemented since 2003.
The objective of the Health System Strengthening and Support Project for Turkey is to improve primary and secondary prevention of selected non-communicable diseases, increase the efficiency of public hospital management, and enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Health for evidence-based policy making, according to the World Bank.
The project aims to implement three integrated components and activities:
Component 1: Public Health and Primary Care aims to raise popular awareness of risk factors related to non-communicable diseases and promote healthy lifestyles; expand early detection and timely referral for effective treatment; and strengthen primary health care to consolidate the results achieved through the Health Transformation Program.
Component 2: Support to the Development of Management Models for Health Facilities would support: the reform of health facility management through technical assistance and implementation support; and the Health Investments Program through capacity building of the General Directorate of Health Investments of the Ministry of Health and Public Hospitals Institution in contract and facility management.
Component 3: Improvement in the Effectiveness of Overall Health Sector Administration facilitates the first two components and builds on earlier World Bank support provided through the Adaptable Program Loans to support the overall stewardship/governance function of the Ministry of Health, with a specific focus on the effectiveness of health sector administration. This component also includes project management as an integral part.
On the occasion of the loan approval, Illangovan Patchamuthu, Acting Country Director for Turkey, stated that the World Bank is pleased to continue its support to the Government of Turkey in health sector with a new strategic focus relating to curbing diseases and promoting institutional efficiency and quality improvements. According to Illangovan, “Despite achieving “best practice” Universal Health Care reform, the rise of non-communicable diseases in the burden of overall disease remains a key health challenge in Turkey. Addressing it requires a multi-pronged approach that starts with promoting healthy living and changing behaviors to address the major risk factors. This project aims to achieve this as well as strengthen the capacity of the related institutions.”
The lending instrument for the Health System Strengthening and Support Project is a variable spread loan, which has a final maturity of 10.5 years including a grace period of 5 years.
