The World Bank has approved a US$50 million loan for the Myanmar COVID-19 Emergency Response Project, fast-tracked by its facility as part of global emergency support operations.

The project will focus on upscaling of Intensive Care Units (ICU) at selected hospitals, eight central level hospitals and 43 region and state level hospitals across all regions and states.

The project will also work on capacity building of health staff and officials, and community engagement activities throughout the country.

The implementation will start with the most at-risk areas, such as densely populated areas and areas with frequent travel and migration.

“This fast-track financing will help Myanmar fill a critical gap in its contingency plan to urgently increase hospital preparedness and surge capacity in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, protect health workers, and minimize the severity of illness and associated deaths”, said Mariam Sherman, World Bank Country Director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR.

According to The World Bank’ statement, it is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response, increase disease surveillance, improve public health interventions, and help the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs. It is deploying up to $160 billion in financial support over the next 15 months to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.

Sources:worldbank.org