DHAKA, April 30, 2020 (BSS) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today
approved a $100 million loan to support Bangladesh in its efforts to address
the immediate public health requirements of combating the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.
“ADB stands with Bangladesh in this difficult time when the COVID-19
pandemic challenges the country’s recent successes in its socioeconomic
development,” said ADB Vice-President Shixin Chen.
“This project will help strengthen Bangladesh’s response to the COVID-19
outbreak by providing urgently needed health equipment, medical supplies,
diagnostic systems, and upgrading of the capacity of the health workforce,”
added the ADB official.
An ADB press release said the COVID-19 Response Emergency Assistance
Project will support the immediate procurement of equipment and supplies for
testing; upgrade of medical infrastructure; and the development of system and
community capacities for surveillance, prevention, and response to the
pandemic in Bangladesh.
The project will equip17 medical college hospitals with isolation and
critical care units. Capacity and quality of at least 19 laboratories will be
upgraded with COVID-19 microbiological diagnostic facilities.
At least 3,500 health sector workers, about 50 percent of whom are women,
will be trained in modern skills and knowledge, and the recruitment of more
health professionals and technical staff will be supported, according to the
release.
ADB has a strong track record of responding rapidly to provide targeted
support to Bangladesh in times of emergencies.
As an immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ADB has released a
$350,000 emergency grant for the procurement of medical supplies and
equipment, and $1.3 million from an existing project to provide one-time cash
support to 22,619 trainees to enable them to continue their ongoing skills
training program.
Additional grant assistance is also being explored to support the purchase
of urgently needed medical supplies.
On 13 April, ADB tripled the size of its initial response to COVID-19 to
$20 billion and approved measures to streamline its operations for quicker
and more flexible delivery of assistance to help its developing member
countries counter the severe macroeconomic and health impacts caused by the
pandemic.
ADB stands ready to provide further financial assistance and policy
advice, the release said.