WB approves $200m project to support Jordan’s healthcare

AMMAN — The World Bank (WB) approved on Tuesday a $200 million project to support Jordan in maintaining the delivery of critical primary and secondary health services to poor uninsured Jordanians and Syrian refugees at Ministry of Health facilities.

The project represents an additional financing to the Jordan Emergency Health Project, approved in June 2017 at a value of $50 million, which was also part of a larger $150 million project financed in parallel by the Islamic Development Bank, according to a statement from the WB. 

“Over the past year, the project provided vital healthcare services to target populations, 2.1 million primary healthcare services and 2.9 million secondary healthcare services,” the WB said, noting that the additional financing includes a contribution of $58.9 million from the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) and will help the Ministry of Health continue providing critical healthcare services to target populations, “at a time when the influx of Syrian refugees to the country continues to put severe strains on the delivery of vital basic services”.

“The additional financing builds on the parent project performance and rapid implementation to help Jordan meet the additional strain on its health system and prevent the reversal of the substantial gains achieved by the sector over the last decade,” Saroj Kumar Jha, WB’s Mashreq regional director, was quoted as saying in the statement. 

The project would reimburse the Health Ministry through results-based financing for primary and secondary healthcare inpatient and outpatient services provided at healthcare facilities nationwide, according to the WB.

“The project will allow the government to foster human capital outcomes with an emphasis on strengthening human resources for primary healthcare. It will support the Ministry of Health efforts to improve the coverage and quality of services provided,” World Bank Senior Health Economist and Task Team Leader Fernando Montenegro Torres stressed.

The WB approved earlier this month a $1.45-billion concessional loan to Jordan at a 4 per cent interest rate and with a four-year grace period.

The Jordan Emergency Health Project Additional Financing brings the World Bank Group’s total commitments to Jordan to $2.98 billion, of which $287.1 million are financed by the GCFF. 

Launched in 2016, the GCFF provides concessional financing to middle income countries hosting large numbers of refugees at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries.