The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of an $87 million loan to Peru to support the first stage of a $197 million program to modernize and reform the health care system in order to improve its quality and expand its coverage.
The IDB is expected to provide a second loan of $50 million within three years to support the program’s second stage.
A primary objective of the program is to improve maternal and child health by eliminating economic, physical, and cultural obstacles that keep impoverished and vulnerable populations from using appropriate health services.
Among the other objectives are the following:
• Reinforce public health efforts, mainly in the area of communicable disease and environmental health, as well as epidemiological surveillance.
• Support the development, initiation, and implementation of health sector policies that make it possible to target public spending to vulnerable groups and cost-effective solutions.
• Develop new models of organization, management, financing and service delivery oriented toward increasing the productivity and efficiency of health sector resources.
• Assist the Ministry of Health* in strengthening its leadership capabilities.
The IDB loan for the first stage is for a 25-year term, with a three-year grace period, at the variable interest rate, now 6.84 percent. Local counterpart funds total $38 million for the first stage and $22 million for the second stage.