By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar.20: The World Bank’s (WB) Board of Executive Directors has approved USD 75 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to support access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and equitable vaccine distribution by strengthening Nepal’s health and vaccination system.
The financing is expected to facilitate vaccination of at least one-third of the population through an equitable distribution plan, according to a press statement issued by the WB.
“The pandemic presents immense challenges and an uncertain environment, particularly in the purchase, supply and distribution of vaccines,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
“It is a testament to our strong partnership with Nepal that the Bank has been able to move quickly to support the government’s ambitious plans to vaccinate at least 72 per cent of the population.”
The additional financing builds on the US $29 million for the original COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project that was approved in April 2020.
Most of the new financing (90 per cent) will go to the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and deployment for prioritised populations beyond the 20 per cent that will be vaccinated through COVAX.
The rest of the financing will help strengthen the health system to support the COVID-19 vaccination effort and procure other COVID-19-related supplies such as diagnostic tests, laboratory equipment and therapeutics.
The additional financing also supports community engagement and risk communication, and towards strengthening existing digital technology-based pandemic data, surveillance and monitoring systems, reads the statement.
“This support is critical for Nepal to safeguard the physical health of its people and economic health of the nation,” said Gail Richardson, World Bank Practice Manager for South Asia for the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice.
“Providing fast and fair access to the approved COVID-19 vaccines for the most vulnerable people will expedite population-level immunity, which is central to resilient recovery from the devastating effects of COVID-19.”
This additional financing for Nepal is one of three projects in the first phase of support for the COVID-19 vaccination effort across the South Asia region.
Similarly, the Bank’s Board also approved additional financing from IDA of US $500 million for Bangladesh and US $60 million for Afghanistan, complemented by US $50 million from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) and US $3 million from the Energy Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), reads the press statement.
In addition to financing, the Bank is also providing technical assistance and knowledge-sharing workshops for countries in South Asia on different aspects of designing and deploying fair and equitable vaccine strategies.