Source: Government of Germany
Date: 14 Aug 2009
Germany and Norway are jointly funding the modernization of Faisabad Provincial Hospital. The hospital, which is responsible for providing medical care to more than 800,000 people, is in urgent need of repair and modernization. The KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank) and the Aga Khan Foundation are partners in the project.
Under the terms of the financing agreement, the Federal Foreign Office is contributing 6.3 million euro to the project, which will make it possible to renovate existing buildings, build new, much-needed diagnostic and treatment units and enhance the hospital’s training capacity. Norway’s contribution (1.3 million euro) is targeted at extending the hospital’s maternity facilities.
Faisabad hospital is responsible for the entire north-eastern Province of Badakhshan. Some 820,000 people, the large majority of whom are ethnic Tajiks, live in its catchment area. The hospital currently has 85 beds and employs 129 persons. Neither its buildings nor the quality of the medical care provided satisfy the requirements which are normally placed on a provincial hospital. Its maternity facilities, in particular, urgently need to be extended and improved. According to a UNICEF study, the region’s neonatal and maternal mortality rates are depressingly high.
The executing agency is KfW Entwicklungsbank. The planned measures are due to be completed within five years.
Another crucial factor in the project’s long-term success is the commitment given by the Aga Khan Foundation to take over the running of the hospital for 30 years. The Foundation is already present on the ground, and is involved in nurse training and local basic healthcare projects. KfW Entwicklungsbank has already been cooperating successfully for many years with the Aga Khan Health Services. The US Development Organization USAID has agreed to fund the running of the hospital.
Read at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/OYAH-7UWN3E?OpenDocument
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