The World Bank approved a US$190 million project to strengthen the capacity to deliver quality health services in the Dominican Republic.
The loan project has two main tracks: helping public healthcare facilities meet the criteria to obtain their licensing and boosting the capacities of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MISPAS) to perform its stewardship function.
The World Bank loan is instrumental to the Ministry of Public health fulfilling the current 2030 National Strategic Health Plan, as emphasized by Public Health Minister Daniel Rivera.
The Program to Support the Strengthening of the National Health System will support public health facilities, mainly for primary care, to meet the infrastructure and equipment standards required to obtain their licensing, which can be a bottleneck in the capacity to provide quality public health services. At least 250 public health care facilities are expected to obtain their license through the project.
Special attention will be given to support the design and implementation of the maternal and neonatal care strategy (Unified Strategy for Quality of Maternal and Neonatal Care or CUNA for its Spanish acronym). Hospitals implementing this strategy are expected to increase their maternal and neonatal quality scores by 20%.
The bill needs congressional approval. The ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) has the simple majority needed to pass this loan in both houses of the National Congress.
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World Bank
World Bank
7 December 2023