Mekong Regional Health Support Project

The project aims to improve health services in the Mekong region and to enhance access to and coverage of these services, especially for the poor through: (i) strengthening the health financing policy framework and increasing the financial accessibility of health services for the poor and near-poor; (ii) improving the availability and quality of curative care, including responsiveness to changing disease patterns; (iii) increasing the capacity of preventive health activities; and (iv) building the capacity of the health workforce. The project therefore blends support for demand for health care services among the poor and near poor with outlays that address supply-side opportunities and needs while building physical and human resource capacity. Key outcome indicators include: Percentage of poor and others using and expressing satisfaction with the provision of different levels of health services, including hospital care Percentage of poor and near poor to whom health insurance cards have been issued in project provinces Improvement of quality of hospital care in the project hospitals