The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a loan of approximately USD4.4 million (mn) for the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (GOSVG) to improve the capacity of the country’s health sector to respond to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and improve resilience of the health sector to respond to health and other emergencies.  

CDB Vice President, Operations, Mr. Isaac Solomon said, “In addition to the effects of COVID-19, in recent times Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has also had to grapple with the eruption of the La Soufrière Volcano and the impact of Hurricane Elsa which have severely strained healthcare systems. The assistance from CDB will support the Government’s ongoing healthcare management response and help to minimise the adverse impacts of the pandemic and other emergencies on the population’s health.”

Over the last two years health delivery systems in SVG have been overburdened particularly during spikes in COVID-19 infections which tested the capacity of personnel, equipment, facilities, and other resources. CDB’s support will improve COVID-19 surveillance, case detection and monitoring, increase the capacity of response teams, augment health information systems and improve the delivery of critical care.  

The project loan is being allocated from a USD50 mn loan facility provided by the Inter-American Development Bank to support COVID-19 response projects in Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Member Countries.