The Government of India, the Government of Meghalaya and the World Bank recently signed a $40 million health project for the state of Meghalaya. The project will improve the quality of health services and strengthen the state’s capacity to handle future health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project will enhance the management and governance capabilities of the state and its health facilities; expand the design and coverage of the state’s health insurance program; improve the quality of health services through certification and better human resource systems, and enable efficient access to medicines and diagnostics.

All 11 districts of the state will benefit from the project. It will also benefit health sector staff at the primary and secondary levels by strengthening their planning and management capabilities and building their clinical skills. The project will enable women to better utilise healthcare services at the community level.

The agreement was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India; Ramkumar S, Joint Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare on behalf of the Government of Meghalaya; and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

The project will move towards a performance-based financing system where Internal Performance Agreements (IPAs) between the DoHFW and its subsidiaries would foster more accountability at all levels. This is expected to go a long way in improving the management of the system to deliver quality health services. The project will also focus on promoting synergy between various schemes and augmenting the capacity of the state insurance agency.