The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $300 million loan to strengthen and improve access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas of 13 states that will benefit over 256 million urban dwellers including 51 million from slum areas.

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, signed for the Government of India the agreement for Strengthening Comprehensive Primary Health Care and pandemic preparedness in Urban Areas Program while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, signed for ADB.

The programme will be implemented in urban areas across 13 states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.

Besides the pandemic response, interventions through the programme promote increased utilisation of urban HWCs with the provision of comprehensive primary health care packages including non-communicable diseases and community outreach services such as awareness-raising activities on health care options, particularly for women.

Delivery and health information systems for primary health care will be upgraded through digital tools, quality assurance mechanisms, and engagement and partnership with the private sector.  

The programme is supported by a $2 million technical assistance grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to provide support for programme implementation and coordination, capacity building, innovation, knowledge sharing and application of scalable best practices across the healthcare system.