Announcement of Jordan Health Management Project Recieves Twenty Million US Dollars World Bank Loan on March 17, 1993

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Screer.N.W.. Washin5ton. D.C. 20433, U-.SA. Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 93/63 MENA Contact: Jeannie Yamine (202)473-2318 JORDAN HEALTH MANAGEMENT PROJECT RECEIVES A $20 MILLION WORLD BANK LOAN Washington, D.C., March 17, 1993 -- The World Bank approved a $20 million loan to support a Jordanian health management project designed to raise the quality of primary care in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The project's other objectives are to help improve hospital services and support the reform of the Ministry of Health (MOH) organization and management. The Government of Jordan expects to receive about $2.4 million in grants in parallel financing for the $30 million project and will cover the remaining $7.6 million. The World Bank loan, whose sole beneficiary is the Ministry of Health (MOH), is for 20 years, including 5 years grace, at the Bank's standard variable interest rate. The project consists of five components, the first being primary care upgrading through the training of health care center doctors, nurses, and midwives. A second component is facilities improvement through the renovation and equipping of selected MOH hospitals and the provision of better maintenance services. The reorganization of the central and regional administration of MOH, as well as the decentralization of service delivery management are among the items called for in the project's organization and management component. In the financing and cost recovery component, a study will be conducted to help MOH develop a medium-term fee structure and improve operations of the MOH health insurance fund. The fifth and final project component calls for undertaking studies of the health status and epidemiological trends in the Jordanian population, and of the feasibility of a national health insurance scheme. The expected project benefits include better- quality-primary care, especially in mother and child health/family planning services, and emergency services. Improved maintenance services will reduce equipment breakdowns, while enhanced MOH management will help contain costs and enhance the responsiveness to patient needs of day-to-day grassroots service delivery. The financing component would also help lay the basis for containing public expenditure while improving equity. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents