The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it is partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to increase coverage of priority health technologies and interventions among Nigeria’s poor.
The project is worth some $60 million investment and is coming under the African Health Markets for Equity (AHME) project.
The African Health Markets for Equity is building on the best practices of what works within the country by relying on its strong network of partners in Nigeria.
Within Nigeria, this investment is targeted at strengthening health care providers, like hospitals, clinics, pharmacies. Currently, over 60 percent of the health care in Nigeria is provided by private providers.
A statement from the World Bank country office informed that the local partners for this project include Society for Family Health, Marie Stopes Nigeria, Grameen Foundation, Safe Care, Population Services International with Pharmaccess and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group giving technical support.
Operating in Nigeria and two other African countries, namely Kenya and Ghana, the African Health Markets for Equity (AHME), which is a 5-year investment, will increase the scale and scope of franchised health care, expanding from family planning and sexual and reproductive health to also addressing malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, nutrition, maternal care, HIV and tuberculosis.
