The World Bank’s Board of Directors approved the Comprehensive Approach to Health System Strengthening Project (COMPASS), financed by $30 million of which $15 million as a grant and $15 million as a credit.
The objective of COMPASS is to improve utilization of quality Primary Health Care (PHC) and to strengthen the capacity of institutions which are critical to quality PHC in Comoros. The entire population of Comoros, particularly children under five, women, adolescents, patients with the non-communicable disease will benefit from the project.
Despite the progress in some key health outcomes since 2000, Comoros, as a country affected by fragility, conflict and violence performs worse than Sub-Saharan Africa averages in various health indicators, including infant mortality, neonatal mortality and severe wasting rates. Quality primary health care in Comoros is hindered by major constraints in financing, governance, capacity and institutions.
“The World Bank is committed to further assist the Government of Comoros. In order to have inclusive and sustainable growth, we must first and foremost ensure that people have good health,” said Rasit Pertev, World Bank Resident Representative in Comoros.
To bring quality care closer to the population, the project will support the strengthening of the foundational elements of a quality primary health care system: infrastructure, workforce, service delivery platforms, governance, institutions for quality, and citizen engagement. It will include rehabilitation of district centers and health posts, provision of equipment and vehicles; training for selected health cadres as well as recruitment of health workers; and scale-up of the community health and nutrition platform piloted under the Comoros Social Safety Net Project. This project will also aim at strengthening institutions which are critical to ensure quality primary health care and timely response to disease outbreaks.
The project will build on existing support the health system is receiving, including from the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and PASCO, the AFD-supported performance-based financing project.
Original source: World Bank
Published on 02 July 2019
