Announcement of Two Million US Dollars Loan to Jamaica on June 22, 1970

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR • RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 1818 H STREET. N.W., WASHINGT0~'1 D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 70/43 Subject: $2 million loan to Jamaice June 22, 1970 The World Bank has approved a loan of $2 million to Jamaica for a project which will support the Goverrunent's national family planning program. This loan will be the first made by the Bank Group to assist a member country in its policy of slowing down the growth rate of its population. The purpose of the project is to help women who might wish to limit the size of their families. It is designed to strengthen one of the basic planks of Jamaica's program of reducing its population growth rate, namely to inform child- bearing women about family planning during the postpartum period. After theil' • babies are born, mothers are especially receptive to information about family planning, which can be given in groups or individually, in the delivery hospitals themselves. The same approach, through the creation of maternity centers, will be adopted for rural areas. The Bank loan will help to1 finance the improvement and expansion of t,,he Vic- toria Jubilee Hosp:ltal at Kingston, where nearly a fourth of all births in Jamc?icr:\ take place. This includes the construction an,, -~~::uipping of a new 150-bed wingJ including a delivery suite with 33 labor and delivery units and space for mid- wifery training, and remodeling of the present structure. The project also in- clud~s the construction and equipping of 10 R:;Jral Maternity Centers in certain selected locations all over Jamaica. They will each have an initial capacity of 4 to 8 beds. Consultants will design and supervise c9nstruction. Provision is made for designing training programs fN.- family planning personnel and for an • annual evaluation of the national program's effectiveness. The loan will also cover studies for determining arrangements for the optimum use of health clinics in the Kingston Metropolitan Ar.ea fo:: faniily planning purposes, £,nd for the most /more Ba.nlr. P.R. No. 70/43 - Jamaica - 2 - econcmic utilization of medical, para-medical ~nd non-&11ed::.eal personnel in fa,ail7 planning clinics. The Government of .Jamaica has adopted a policy of supporting family plar.ning • as a necessary complement to its efforts in economic de\lelopment. In providing family planning services, the concept of voluntary participation is emphasized. 1..'he program will have important social benefits, consisting primarily of improv~- ments in the health and welfare of mothers and children. In economic terms the reduction in birth& will lead to an improvement in living standards in the near-term by reducing the number of consumers in relation to the productive labor force. Furthermore~ at the governmental level resources that would have been needed to t'~~~ide education, medical care etc. for the additional populativu w!!l be for other productive uses. In the longer-term the program will help to alleviate unemployment both by reducing the number of people entering the labor force and by increasing the amount of resources available for public gnd private investments. • This ef feet is of partiC!u:.ar importance in densely populated J?m~ica where the possibility of creating new jobs in industry and agriculture at any foreseeable time is limited. Land suitable for extensive agricultural development is relatively scarce, and the exploitation of other natural resources, notably bauxite and tourist attractions, offers only moderate scope for additional employment. The project being assisted by the Bank loan will be carried out as part of the Government's family planning program for the whole country. It will be implemented by ia statutory authority, the National Famity Planning Bo~rd, which will be recon- stituted for this purpose. The project is scheduled for completion by mid-1974 at a total cost equivalent to $3 million. The Bank loan of $2 million will cover the estimated foreign ex- change requirements and interest during construction. Local costs will be met by tbe Government. The Government will also provide adequate financing toward the • National Family Planning Board's recurrent expenditures which are now $500,000 and are expected to r~ach $1.5 million by 1975. l'he Bank loan to Jamai.ca will be for a term of 20 years, including 5 years of grace, with interest at 7%. - 0 -