MANILA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said it has approved a policy-based loan of 46.3 million euros (50 million U.S. dollars) to help improve access to quality and affordable health care in Georgia.

Under the ADB's health sector enhancement program, the bank said in a press release that it will disburse the financing once the government has implemented various reforms to improve health sector governance and regulation, increase publicly funded primary health care and specialized outpatient and diagnostic services, and enhance the sector's operational efficiency and financial sustainability.

"This program represents ADB's comprehensive and integrated package of support to improve health care in Georgia," said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. "While it will help improve health care for all, this program will be particularly beneficial for the poor, women, and vulnerable groups."

Georgia has high levels of non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, cancer and diabetes, which reduce life expectancy and healthy aging, the bank said, noting that strengthening government-funded primary health care and outpatient services can help to manage these diseases.

The program supports redesigning the government's primary healthcare benefits package to make better service coverage more affordable, especially for the poor and vulnerable, the ADB said.

It also enables strategic purchasing to increase the share of quality health care providers contracted and supports changes in digital information systems to efficiently manage health care programs, the bank said. Enditem

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