World Bank increases support for Bangladesh health sector

Dhaka, June 26: The World Bank has approved $150 million in additional financing to help strengthen Bangladesh’s health systems and improve its services. The financing will support implementation of the government’s health sector-wide programme, Xinhua news agency cited the World Bank as saying in a statement on Sunday. The support will help the government address health sector challenges, including sustaining and improving immunisation coverage, further improving deliveries for pregnant women at public health facilities and tackling multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. It will also help Bangladesh improve public financial management to get more value from its public spending on health. The programme and its predecessors have contributed to a 40 per cent reduction in maternal mortality since 2010, the World Bank said. Bangladesh has reduced under-five child mortality by 29 per cent between 2007 and 2014, and during the same period, births attended by medically trained professionals increased from 21 per cent to 42 per cent, it said.