The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has authorized a $300 million credit to increase and improve access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas in India.
The onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has put pressure and exposed weaknesses in India’s health care system. In response to it, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PM-ASBY) to strengthen public health systems and respond to future pandemics and other emergencies.
The Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care in Urban Areas Program will support the Ayushman Bharat (the Healthy India Initiative) Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWC) and PM-ASBY to ensure equal entrance to quality comprehensive primary health care services in urban areas in 13 states in India.
The program will benefit an estimated 256 million urban residents, including 51 million from the slum areas of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.
In addition to the loan, a $2 million technical assistance grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will provide technical support for program implementation and coordination, capacity building, innovation, and application of new knowledge to the health care system.
