Current Context: On March 3, 2023, India and World Bank signed two loans of $500 million each for PHSPP and EHSDP. PHSPP stands for Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program and EHSDP stands for Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program. These programs aim to improve India's healthcare infrastructure and service delivery in seven states. The loans have a maturity of 18.5 years with a grace period of five years.
- The seven states covered by these programs are Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. These states were selected based on their health indicators and readiness for health sector reforms.
- These programs will help these states by supporting them to develop more accessible, high-quality, and affordable health services.
- They will also strengthen health systems, improve disease response, and enhance governance and accountability. These programs will focus on achievement of results rather than inputs.
- These programs will be monitored using the Program-for-Results financing instrument that focuses on achievement of results rather than inputs.
- This means that the disbursement of funds will be linked to the attainment of specific and measurable results. These results will include indicators such as immunization coverage, institutional deliveries, quality of care, and health system performance.
Question:
Q.1 When did the Government of India and the World Bank sign two complementary loans of $500 million each for PHSPP and EHSDP?
a. June 28, 2022
b. March 3, 2023
c. December 15, 2022
d. September 21, 2023
