Additional Financing for the Senegal COVID-19 Response Project

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The proposed project and its additional financing aim to strengthen the Senegal's national public health preparedness capacity to prevent, detect and respond to the COVID-19 and future public health emergencies. The request total amount is approximately US$154 million (20+134) for activities across three board categories: (i) prevention; (ii) detection; (iii) response. The objectives of the project and activities included are fully in line with the COVID-19 financing facility and will support the implementation of the Senegal COVID-19 Response Plan endorsed by the Ministry of Health and Social Action (on March 17, 2020) and the National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy and National COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Plan (NVDP) (January 2021). The additional financing will help to expand the scope of activities of the parent project through three components:Component 1. Emergency COVID-19 Response (US$145.5 million). ). Under this component, the MoHSA will enhance its capacities to prevent, detect and treat the different cases. It will enable the country to mobilize surge response capacity through trained and well-equipped front-line health workers. The component will also support the implementation of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment Plan (NVDP) by ensuring acquisition of vaccines, their deployment and pharmacovigilance. There is uncertainty with vaccine purchase globally, but at this time, the Government will only use Bank financing for vaccines approved under the Bank’s Vaccine Approval Criteria or any modification that will result during project implementation. Purchasing vaccines is just one step in a complex, multi-dimensional effort that includes detailed planning and implementation of a vaccine deployment program in Senegal. Therefore, the following activities will also be supported in this component: microplanning, safe and appropriate transportation, storage, training, ancillary materials, cold chain equipment, waste management equipment, registration, effective vaccine logistics and a suitable information management system. This component will also support technical assistance services and capacity building. Component 2. Community Engagement and Risk communication (US$5 million). The project will continue to support communication, mobilization, and community engagement campaigns to raise public awareness and knowledge on prevention and control of COVID-19 among the general population. It will also include a comprehensive behavioral change and risk communication to deal with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and to foster confidence and promote the early take-up of vaccines.Component 3. Program Management and Monitoring (US$ 3.5 million). The proposed project will be managed by the MoHSA's Project Coordination Unit (PCU). The project will share the costs of running the PCU along with other projects funded by the World Bank (REDISSE, ISMEA). Details of the implementation arrangements are described in section III. Implementation Arrangements.