The World Bank (WB) today announced the award of a $ 80 million loan to improve the treatment of chronic diseases in Chile, which is expected to benefit 80 million people.
The Health Sector Support Project seeks to improve the efficiency of public health services and the quality of care, especially for patients with noncommunicable diseases, the WB said in a press release.
“Chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma or cancer predominate in Chile, especially in people over 65 years old, a group that has grown from 6 to 11 percent of the total population between 1990 and 2015, .
A recent World Bank study identified that significant gains in efficiency could be achieved if primary health approaches are mainstreamed, especially in the prevention and appropriate management of chronic cases.
In fact, it was estimated that premature mortality could be reduced by 8-13%, if all Health Services operated at the levels of those who do it most efficiently.
“Redirecting efforts and investments could lead to gains in efficiencies and improvements in the health of patients with noncommunicable diseases,” said Alberto Rodríguez, director of the World Bank for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Rodríguez emphasized “the special positive impact on patients with complex needs, reducing the requirements of intensive therapies by having better prevented or obtained an early and adequate management of these diseases.”
Within the project, it is contemplated “to establish units of management of chronic cases in hospitals and health services to give them greater follow-up, telemedicine services to reach more patients in their homes and also in remote areas and training of health workers” .
The project will also support the optimization of the procurement of medicines and medical supplies in the public sector.
The closure of the project is scheduled for 2023, and has a maturity period of eleven years, including a grace period of 10.5 years.
