The World Bank, WHO and the government of São Tomé recently signed an agreement to support to the national health system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other possible emergencies in the country.
The Memorandum of Understanding aims to strengthen the capacity of the government of São Tomé and Principe in its immediate response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the long term, the agreement also aims to strengthen the country’s accordance with international health regulation (IHR) and bolster the national system of preparedness and response to public health emergencies.
The 17-month project will focus on increasing capabilities, training personnel, reinforcing surveillance systems as well as improving laboratories and case handling, both for the response to COVID-19 and other future public health events.
The project includes 1.3 million US dollars of support from WHO and 2.5 million US dollars from the World Bank.