KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday in his virtual meeting with a World Bank team headed by its country director Najy Benhassine discussed a five-component $400 million Sindh Human Capital Investment Project.

The Sindh government and the World Bank agreed to finalize the project by completing its remaining documents so that it could be started from next financial year.

The World Bank would finance 85 per cent of the project while the provincial government would pitch in 15pc funds.

CM Shah said that it would be called ‘Sindh 1,000 Days plus programme’ aimed at further strengthening the continuum of care for integrated healthcare services for universal health coverage.

He added human capital formation would be made through integrated health, early child education, adult literacy, skill development for women, economic inclusion and a social registry.

Mr Shah said that selected interventions would be implemented through public private partnership (PPP) such as social registry, skills development, ambulance, microfinance, telehealth and others.

The CM discussing the details of the project said that out of 30 districts 271 underserved union councils were selected.

According to Mr Shah, out of total 1,093 government dispensaries (GDs), 293 were selected on the criteria based on two factors — the GD located at four kilometres distance from a basic health unit (BHU) and the GD which has no coverage of lady health workers. “On average each GD is nine kilometres away from a BHU,” he elaborated and added that initially, 93 GDs located in five districts — Tharparkar, Thatta, Sujawal, Jamshoro, Qambar-Shahdadkot — would be covered, while the rest would be covered after one year of the initial programme.

It was pointed out that according to research conducted in 2017-18, distance from a health facility was one of the major reasons for not seeking healthcare. This barrier is more profound in terms of adolescents, widowed, divorced, remote areas, uneducated women and lowest wealth quintile, the study said.

The study says children who live at a distance of five kilometres from a facility are 17pc more at risk of mortality. Distance is the most important factor that influences the utilization of health services.

Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that 293 dispensaries would cover a population of 9.744 million. The GDs would be integrated with district health systems such as DHQ, THQ, RHC and BHU through 88 ambulances, meaning one ambulance for a cluster of five dispensaries.

Amongst the components of the project are The Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) and Formation of Medical Record System.

Component three of the project includes early child education, learning and skill development for adolescent girls.

Under the components school infrastructure and community support for Early Child Education (ECE) to improve equity, access, school readiness and retention would be enhanced and expanded.

Social protection for women and girls’ economic inclusion and empowerment based on socioeconomic components of the project would cost $126m.

Under the scheme a social registry would be developed. The chief minister said that the economic empowerment of women and girls would be made through financial literacy, skill development, micro-financing and training as community health workers

He said that Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has shown interest in social protection and it would incorporate it in PC-1 under a partnership component.

Under the scheme telehealth services would be established and promoted.

The World Bank team discussed all the components in the meeting and agreed to finalize the remaining documents and approvals so that it could be started from next financial year.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2021