Tamil Nadu Minister for Health and Family Welfare C. Vijaya Baskar said that the World Bank on Thursday had agreed to sanction ₹2,685 crore for the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Reforms Project (TNHSRP) that will focus on improving the overall quality of healthcare in the State.
Speaking to the media here after inspecting the site earmarked for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), he said that a formal agreement with the World Bank would be signed February next. Tangedco has consented to provide 20 MVA from two different sources.
The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board has agreed to provide 5 million litre per day (MLD).
J. Radhakrishnan, Principal Secretary, HFW department, later told The Hindu that the project would focus on identifying and fixing the gaps in the existing healthcare delivery, apart from infrastructure development, non-communicable diseases, trauma care and mental health. “There will be focus on accreditation of government hospitals, benchmarking of services, and training for healthcare professionals. The approach will be result-oriented.”
Funds utilisation
He said that there would be flexibility in utilisation of funds in TNHSRP to identify areas that need intervention even at the level of individual hospitals.
The Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP), the previous project, commenced in 2005 and ended in 2015. It TNHSP focussed on areas like increased healthcare access to disadvantaged sections, effective interventions to address key health challenges, improving health outcomes, and improving government hospitals at the district and taluk levels.