World Bank's new programme to provide better health coverage to 11 million people in Kerala

The World Bankrsquos Board of Executive Directors on Friday October 24 approved a new programme to improve the life expectancy and quality of life for 11 million elderly and vulnerable people in Kerala with wider access to health coverageThe USD 280 million Kerala Health System Improvement Programme will build a more comprehensive health system resistant to climate shocksIt will also strengthen Keralarsquos digital health systems through expanded eHealth services integrated data platforms and enhanced cybersecurityThe programme aims to treat and support over 90 per cent of patients registered for hypertension and diabetes in the state through individual electronic tracking mechanisms It will also establish a homebased care model for bedbound homebound and vulnerable elderly to provide comprehensive health servicesldquoGood health empowers people creates jobs and drives economic growth Strong resilient health systems also help economies prevent and better respond to health emergencies and pandemicsrdquo said Paul Procee the World Bankrsquos Acting Country Director for IndialdquoIn Kerala women have one of the highest educational attainments in the country and can contribute more to the statersquos economic growth with optimum health The programme will ensure a 40 per cent increase in patients whose hypertension is controlled and 60 per cent increase in cervical and breast cancer screening for women to accelerate efforts to end preventable deathsrdquo he addedKerala has achieved sustained health gains for over two decades with improvements in neonatal 34 per 1000 live births infant 44 per 1000 live births underfive mortality 52 per 1000 live births and maternal mortality 19 per 100000 live births ratesThis stems from high literacy rates public health awareness and decentralised governance However a rising burden of noncommunicable diseases hypertension diabetes cancer and a rapidly ageing population with the elderly comprising over 20 per cent of the total population has strained the health systemHowever there are gaps in emergency and trauma care with over 4000 deaths in road traffic reported annuallyThe new programme will engage with local government bodies such as gram panchayats and municipal corporations to adopt standard protocols and procedures for antibiotic use and address zoonotic disease outbreaks by fasttracking reliable laboratory information for patientsPrimary health facilities in the districts of Wayanad Kozhikode Kasaragod Palakkad and Alappuzha will also adopt climateled solutions to improve energy efficiency and manage extreme heat and floodsldquoKerala has adopted One Health approaches and experiences from ongoing World Bank support have been tapped to establish a sound system of community surveillancerdquo said Deepika Chaudhery and Hikuepi Katjiuongua the Task Team Leaders of the programmeldquoThis programme will ensure elderly people in Kerala receive wider access to health coverage through innovative initiatives The programme will also support a multilevel trauma and emergency care system to ensure that 85 million people receive timely and highquality servicerdquo they addedThe 280 million loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development IBRD has a final maturity of 25 years with a grace period of five yearsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever