The Government of India and the World Bank have signed two complementary loans of $500 million each to support and enhance India’s health sector development. Through this combined financing of $1 billion, the Bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across the country.

In addition to the national level interventions, one of the loans will prioritise health service delivery in seven states including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

The agreement was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Auguste Tano Kouamé, Country Director, India, World Bank.

The $500 million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Programme  (PHSPP) will support the government’s efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to be ready to detect and report epidemics of potential international concern, ensure rapid response, and prevent emergence of pathogens; to enhance India’s capacity to detect pathogens, including zoonotic diseases, to inform India’s bio-security response and commercialisation of new technologies to prevent, detect or treat infectious diseases.

The $500 million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Programme (EHSDP) will support government’s efforts to strengthen service delivery through a redesigned primary health care model, which includes improved household access to primary healthcare facilities, stronger links between each household and its primary care facility through regular household visits and risk assessment of non-communicable diseases.