El Salvador to Receive Funds for Women and Children’s Care from IDB

The government of El Salvador asked the Legislative Assembly to authorize it to sign a loan contract with the Andean Development Cooperation (CAF) for $77,000,000.

The loan will be called ‘Program for the implementation of a telemedicine system in El Salvador’. This has the purpose of improving access and coverage in patient care in the country through the implementation of a technological and human resources platform that allows the application of telemedicine at the national level.

Telemedicine being one of the areas where recently, the head of Health, Francisco Alabí, recognized that more efforts were needed.

The term is contemplated to be 18 years, including a grace period of “54 months” (four and a half years), counted from the date of entry into force.

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“The first installments will be paid on the interest payment date that corresponds to 54 months from the date of entry into force,” the proposal reads. In addition, it is estimated that the payments will be consecutively “as much as possible equal.”

For this, a reference rate plus the 2% margin will be paid, with a conversation option, at a fixed interest rate or any other available interest rate option, and said interest will be paid semiannually, starting six months from now. from the month of entry into force of the loan contract.

Non-refundable funds

The central government requested from the Legislative Assembly a reform to the 2023 Budget Law for the Health branch by incorporating $340,000, whose funds come from the non-reimbursable financing framework agreement of the Mesoamerican Health Fund.

The agreement is called “Mesoamerica Health Program 2015 El Salvador”, which was signed in January 2012 with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

With the agreement, the IDB and the Ministry of Health signed three individual operations to cooperate in the execution of a project that will contribute to reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in 14 of the poorest municipalities in the country, through strengthening the first level of care, up to an amount of $12,094,645 that was assigned to the project (Code 6015).

To date, $25,461, which corresponds to the investment tranche of the third cooperation, remains pending execution in fiscal year 2023.

“The IDB made known the decision of the donor committee to make our country eligible to obtain a donation as a Performance Award, equivalent to $340,000, which corresponds to 50% of the resources assigned for the performance tranche,” reads the request sent to the Legislative Assembly.

With the above, the Ministry of Health announced that it wishes to use it for the acquisition of goods and services, such as laboratory supplies and stationery, medical equipment, thermal cribs, among others; to strengthen the services provided to women of childbearing age, newborns and children under 5 years of age, in first-level establishments and hospital care in prioritized municipalities. Municipalities are not listed in the piece.