The Central government, the Meghalaya government and the World Bank have collaborated to sign a USD 40 million health project to improve Meghalaya's quality of health services and strengthen the health infrastructure, including for the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the official release by the Ministry of Finance, the Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project was officially signed on October 28 and it will help in boosting the management and the governance capabilities of the state and its health facilities.

The financial boost will also expand the design and coverage of the state's health insurance programme, improve the quality of health services through certification and better human resource systems and enable efficient access to medicines and diagnostics.

The release said, "All 11 districts of the state will benefit from the project. It will also benefit health sector staff at the primary and secondary levels by strengthening their planning and management capabilities and building their clinical skills. The project will enable women to better utilise healthcare services at the community level.'

The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance said, "Strengthening and expanding health care systems is a priority for the Centre. The project will enhance the management and quality of health services in the state. It will also help expand the coverage of health services and make it accessible and affordable to the poor and vulnerable in the state."

The agreement was jointly signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Centre, Ramkumar S, Joint Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare on behalf of the Meghalaya government and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

The release stated, "With its merger into the national Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY), MHIS now plans to offer a more comprehensive package and cover 100 percent of the households. This will reduce barriers to accessing hospital services and preventing catastrophic out-of-pocket costs for low-income families."

It added, "The project, as a key strategy, will move towards a performance-based financing system where Internal Performance Agreements (IPAs) between the DoHFW and its subsidiaries would foster more accountability at all levels.

Image Courtesy: Northeast Now