PODGORICA (Montenegro), November 4 (SeeNews) – The World Bank said on Wednesday it has approved $7.2 million (4.9 million euro) in additional loan financing to support the reform of Montenegro's health sector.
The international lender issued the following press release:
“The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$ 7.20 million loan today to Montenegro for additional financing of the Health System Improvement Project. The additional funds will support the expansion of health reforms, such as the development of institutional capacity and policies in the areas of health finance, pharmaceutical policy, and health policy and planning. The funds will also provide further support for the phased implementation of the primary health care reform.
The Montenegro Health System Improvement Project has been successful in establishing a legal and institutional base for the health sector and in starting to reform the primary health care system based on a model of a chosen primary physician. However, the reform of the health system is still at the nascent stage requiring further institutional and policy development, implementation refinement and investments for scaling up.
The additional financing would fund activities which should further contribute to the effectiveness and financial sustainability of the health system.
The project has three components:
(i) support for health reform through policy development and capacity building for the Ministry of Health and other key health institutions focused on priority issues. These issues include the development of the benefits package and provider payment policies for the hospital system; pharmaceutical regulation and quality control; establishment of a quality assurance system; and through the establishment of an information system to improve data for contracting, monitoring and management of hospital based care.
(ii) phased implementation of primary health care development reform to the rest of the nation based on the key policy elements of patient choice of and registration with a primary care doctor and the contracting of these doctors to deliver a re-defined benefits package according to a new payment model; and
(iii) project management including the maintenance of a Project Management Network and the Technical Services Unit in support effective and efficient project implementation.”
($=0.6778 euro)