World Bank increases support for health sector in Bangladesh

The World Bank has approved $150mn in additional financing to help strengthen Bangladesh’s health systems and improve its services.The financing will support implementation of the government’s health sector-wide programme, Xinhua news agency cited the World Bank as saying in a statement yesterday.The support will help the government address health sector challenges, including sustaining and improving immunisation coverage, further improving deliveries for pregnant women at public health facilities and tackling multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.It will also help Bangladesh improve public financial management to get more value from its public spending on health.The programme and its predecessors have contributed to a 40% reduction in maternal mortality since 2010, the World Bank said.Bangladesh has reduced under-five child mortality by 29% between 2007 and 2014, and during the same period, births attended by medically trained professionals increased from 21% to 42%, it said.With this financing, the World Bank’s support to the project now stands at $508.9mn.