The World Bank has approved $117.70 million (around Rs 517 crore) loan from the International Development Association (IDA) to improve quality of and access to health services in Tamil Nadu.
This comes as additional financing to the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, which was approved on December 16, 2004, with an IDA credit amount of $110.83 million (around Rs 485 crore), it said.
“Tamil Nadu has made significant strides in improving the health status and increasing access to healthcare services in the last decade. According to the recent National Family Health Survey (2005-2006), the state’s infant mortality rate dropped by 35 per cent since the previous survey (1998-1999),” it said.
These improvements are in part due to a significant increase in overall vaccination coverage of children between 12 and 23 months.
The overall nutrition status of children under age three also has improved, with an 18 percent reduction in underweight children.
“Tamil Nadu has made impressive progress in improving maternal and child health, and further improvements would be achieved by improvement in the overall quality of care, particularly for provision of comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care,” said Preeti Kudesia, World Bank senior public health specialist and project team leader.
The additional funding will support the continuation of activities, and focus on improving the quality of healthcare provision.