WASHINGTON, March 21, 2018 - The World Bank approved today $110 million to support the Government of Angola’s efforts to address the utilization and quality of health services in the country.
The Health System Performance Strengthening Project will benefit women of reproductive age and children under the age of five in 21 municipalities in a total of seven provinces. The performance of 232 primary health care facilities in target municipalities will be supported through the project. Additionally, the project will support activities related to the strengthening of the national health system that create the enabling conditions for the nationwide delivery of quality health services.
“I am very pleased that the World Bank will join forces with the Angolan Government to strengthen health services,” said Elisabeth Huybens, World Bank Country Director for Angola. “Enhancing the quality of health services is key to building human capital which in turn is critical for fostering inclusive growth and reducing poverty.”
Angola has registered some encouraging improvements in many social indicators since 1990, including increased life expectancy, lower infant and child mortality and maternal mortality rates. However, despite these improvements, Angola’s indicators are still lower than the average in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Angolan Government has therefore embarked on the administrative decentralization of the public health system through the municipalization of health services.
The target intervention areas for the new project will be the following provinces and municipalities which represent 4.7 million people (16.6 percent of the country’s total population): Bengo: Ambriz e Dande; Luanda: Icolo e Bengo; Lunda Norte: Chitato, Cambulo, Cuango, Lucapa; Malanje: Cacuso, Calandula, Malanje, Caculama (Mucari); Moxico: Camanongue, Luau, Luena (Moxico); Uige: Maquela do Zombo, Negage, Sanza Pombo, Uige; and Cuando Cubango: Cuito Cuanavale, Mavinga, Menongue.
Two innovations under this project are the piloting of a Performance-Based Financing to bring a focus on results to the delivery of quality health services and a flexible emergency response component to provide the country with a mechanism to rapidly respond to potential public health outbreaks.
This project contributes to the objectives of the Government’s National Development Plan (PND) 2018-2022.
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For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org/en/country/Angola
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