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Dimapur, June 24 (EMN): Mizoram has signed a USD 32 million ‘Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project’ along with the Central govt. and the World Bank to improve management capacity and quality of health services, particularly for the benefit of under-served areas and vulnerable groups in the state.
The agreement was signed on June 16 by Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary, department of Economic Affairs, ministry of Finance on behalf of the government of India with Eric Zomawia, project director Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project on behalf of the government of Mizoram and Junaid Ahmad, country director India on behalf of World Bank, according to a PIB report.
The report stated that the project will strengthen governance and the management structure of the department of Health and Family Welfare and its subsidiaries, improve the quality and coverage of services delivered by the state government health systems and invest in a comprehensive quality assurance programme, which would enable quality certification of health facilities.
A key focus will be to strengthen the effectiveness of the state health insurance programme, build synergies with the government of India’s PMJAY and thereby reduce financial barriers in accessing hospital services, prevent catastrophic out of pocket expenditure for health by poor families and expand coverage, it added.
The report stated that the project would benefit the people across all eight districts of the state. It will also benefit health sector staff, specifically at the secondary and primary levels by strengthening their planning and management capacity along with building their clinical skills and competencies.
As a key strategy, the project will move towards a performance-based financing system, where Internal Performance Agreements between the DoHFW and its subsidiaries would foster more accountability at all levels, it stated.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on the delivery and utilisation of essential health services in the state. The project will invest in infection prevention and control for a more resilient response to future outbreaks, pandemics, and health emergencies. The project will also 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, it added.