VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh got `2,200 crore World Bank loan assistance for implementing the AP Health Systems Strengthening Project (APHSSP).The Centre, AP government and the World Bank on Wednesday signed the loan agreement for a $328-million project aimed at improving the quality and responsiveness of public health services and increasing access of people to an expanded package of primary health services.
The agreement was signed by Bandana Preyashi, director, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (GoI), Poonam Malakondaiah, Special Chief Secretary (Medical and Health, AP government) and Mohini Kak and Kari L Hurt, representatives of World Bank in India.
The APHSSP will be implemented in the State with focus on three key result areas — improved quality of care, improved responsiveness of public health services and increased access to an expanded package of primary health services.
The officials said that it will strengthen the public healthcare facilities by improving the quality of healthcare delivery through National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certifications for Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), establishing integrated online patient management system and patient feedback system to assess patient’s overall health facility experience, functional e-subcentres that facilitate tele-consultations and non-communicable disease (NCD) management and screening at sub-centrs (SCs) and PHCs.
The project under quality of care aims at incentivising the CHCs and PHCs to achieve State-level and NQAS certification along with establishment of quality tracking dashboard systems to monitor the maintenance of quality standards at the health facilities.
The project under quality of care aims at incentivising the CHCs and PHCs to achieve State-level and NQAS certification along with establishment of quality tracking dashboard systems to monitor the maintenance of quality standards at the healthcare facilities. It will also support the establishment of integrated online management systems and patient feedback system in public health facilities. The scope of the project also aims at enhancing the packages of care services available at the PHCs.