The project will improve the quality of services delivered by the state government health system

To improve health management capacity and provide quality services in Mizoram, the Union government, the State government of Mizoram and the World Bank on Thursday jointly signed a $32 million Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project.

“A key focus of the project will be to strengthen the effectiveness of the state health insurance programme, build synergies with the Government of India’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY) and thereby reduce financial barriers in accessing hospital services, prevent catastrophic out of pocket expenditure for health by poor families and expand coverage,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project will benefit the people across all eight districts of the state, it suggested.

The project that is particularly for the benefit of under-served areas and vulnerable groups will strengthen the governance and the management structure of the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoHFW) and its subsidiaries, the statement explained.

The project will improve the quality and coverage of services delivered by the state government health systems, and invest in a comprehensive quality assurance program which would enable quality certification of health facilities, it further said.

According to the statement, the project will also benefit health sector staff, specifically at the secondary and primary levels, by strengthening their planning and management capacity along with building their clinical skills and competencies.

As a key strategy, 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, it added further.

This is expected to go a long way in improving the management of the system to deliver quality health services, the Ministry of Finance’s statement claimed.

Maintaining that COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on the delivery and utilization of essential health services in the state, it said, the project will invest in infection prevention and control for a more resilient response to future outbreaks, pandemics, and health emergencies.

The project will also invest in improving the overall ecosystem for bio-medical waste management (both solid and liquid waste), added the statement.