NAIROBI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said Monday it has approved a 1-billion-U.S. dollar project to drastically improve multisectoral preparedness and response to health emergencies in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa.
The lender said the Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Program (HEPRR) is expected to reach more than 182 million people, with the number of beneficiaries increasing substantially over the next seven years as additional countries and implementing partners join.
"The program will provide support for national and regional systems for health emergency preparedness and response to work in tandem with those strengthening health system resilience," the World Bank said in a statement, saying the project will prioritize a regional approach, led by African institutions, given the many public goods/cross-border issues involved in health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience.
It said the program provides 1 billion dollars in credit and grant financing, with 359 million dollars provided under phase One which covers Ethiopia, Kenya, Sao Tome and Principe, the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The program will also focus on developing regional pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing and logistical capacities, premised on a strong regulatory ecosystem and a reliable market ecosystem, which is imperative to addressing Africa's reliance on imports, the lender said.
It said the program will foster strong regional and multisectoral collaboration for robust health security and health system capacities that will benefit vulnerable groups such as mothers, children, and disadvantaged populations, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.
Ramesh Govindaraj, World Bank lead specialist in health, nutrition and population global practice, said the HEPPR can be a catalyst for African countries to learn from global experiences and leapfrog other regions in combating health emergencies regionally.
The World Bank said HEPRR was designed to address the persistent and increasing threats from various acute and chronic health emergencies in Africa (including communicable and non-communicable diseases, some of which are being brought on by climate change) and the need for renewed multisectoral approaches to better mitigate against negative human capital/health outcomes. ■
