The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reallocated $1.4 million from a health project in Mongolia to procure essential medical equipment for early detection, emergency care, and management of severe respiratory diseases in wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ADB also approved a $225,000 small-scale technical assistance to strengthen Mongolia’s national capacity for infection prevention and control.
“This ADB assistance will improve its ability to respond to and contain the spread of a potential COVID-19 outbreak in the country,” said ADB Country Director for Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran. “Building readiness in hospitals and strengthening preparedness are areas identified by the government as among the most pressing requiring immediate assistance.”
The $1.4 million in funds is reprogrammed from the Fifth Health Sector Development Project for Mongolia. ADB approved a concessional loan of $30 million for the project in December 2012 to strengthen safe blood transfusion, medical waste management, and hospital hygiene and infection prevention and control.
The reallocated funds are providing more than 570 pieces of equipment for diagnosis and treatment of patients with respiratory conditions at 30 district and provincial general hospitals and 4 tertiary level hospitals in Mongolia. The equipment includes portable digital X-rays, ventilators, patient monitors, oxygen concentrators, infusion, and injection pumps and nebulizers.
The small-scale technical assistance will assist in strengthening national resources mapping and coordination. It will introduce an incident management approach and train health workers on infection prevention and control at national and local levels.
ADB has played a key role in strengthening Mongolia’s health system since 1993, providing seven loans totaling $167.04 million, eight grants for $40.48 million, and 18 technical assistance projects amounting to $13.45 million.
Original source: ADB
Published on 18 March 2020
