The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Wednesday announced that it had approved a US$100 million grant to help Haiti rebuild essential health services in its three northern departments to save lives and prevent disabilities.
The IDB said that the project will contribute to improving the health system, conduct key health surveys and analyses for health management, and advance the digitalization of health care, using the information to develop a medium-term investment master plan.
The initiative will also build on interventions carried out since 2022 through IDB-supported social protection operations and will directly support the delivery of essential services aimed at preventing and treating prevalent noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as infectious diseases including cholera, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and human papillomavirus.
The IDB said to help empower underserved groups, such as internally displaced people, return migrants, vulnerable women, and people with disabilities, the programme will develop care protocols that reflect their preferences.
‘The greater part of the grant resources will go toward strengthening health infrastructure to enhance the response capacity of the network of facilities serving priority communities. This will be the first stage of a longer-term commitment to rebuild the public health network’s response capacity, beginning with the greater northern region.’
The IDDB said that the grant will be disbursed and implemented over 84 months and is expected to directly benefit 750,000 people in specific communities starting in the country’s three northern departments.