Indian government and the World Bank have signed MoU for a $40 million project for improving the quality of health services in Meghalaya
Key Points
- This MoU will strengthen the capacity of state to handle future health emergencies like covid-19 pandemic.
- Project is dubbed as “Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project”.
Significance of the project
- Project will enhance management & governance capabilities of the state as well as its health facilities.
- It will expand the design and coverage of health insurance program in state.
- It will improve the quality of health services by means of certification and better human resource systems.
- It will finally enable efficient access to medicines and diagnostics.
Who are the beneficiaries?
This project will benefit all the 11 districts of state. It will further benefit the health sector staff at primary and secondary levels by building their clinical skills and strengthening planning & management capabilities. At the community level, it will enable women to better utilize healthcare services. Through this project, coverage of health services will be made accessible and affordable to the poor and vulnerable.
Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS)
This project will help in strengthen the effectiveness of Meghalaya’s health insurance program dubbed as Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS). MHIS currently covers 56% of the households. Now, with integration with the national Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), scheme plans to cover 100% of the households. It will reduce barriers to accessing hospital services as well as prevent catastrophic out-of-pocket costs for poor & vulnerable families.
Performance based financing system
This project will move towards a performance-based financing system, in which Internal Performance Agreements (IPAs) will be signed between DoHFW and its subsidiaries. It will thus foster more accountability at all levels.
