Ecuador COVID-19 Emergency Response and Vaccination Project

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The WBG Project will be comprised of two components to support the Government’s strategic plan to prevent and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19 and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness. In addition, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures will be incorporated throughout the sub-components, as applicable, and gender issues will be addressed as necessary. The specific activities financed by the Project fit into the overall Government strategy to: (i) rapidly address the COVID-19 emergency by identifying, isolating and providing care for patients with COVID-19 to minimize disease spread, morbidity and mortality; (ii) implement effective communication campaigns for mass awareness and education of the population and guidelines for health care workers to tackle the COVID-19 emergency; and (iii) strengthen the short- and long-run capacity of the public health system to provide intensive care. Component 1: Support the National Program to respond to COVID-19 pandemic [US$19 million]. This component will include two subcomponents and will finance the national communication strategy, and medical and non-medical equipment, medical devices, and consultant and non-consultant services.Sub-component 1.1: Support the national communication strategy to control the spread of COVID-19. This subcomponent will contribute to the financing of a sustained, national communication plan to (a) develop and disseminate guidelines for health workers and (b) to raise population awareness to slow down the spread of the disease, and thus avoiding the rapid increase of demand of critical health services. Financing includes consultant and non-consultant services for three main activities: (i) developing materials and messages for the general public to increase understanding about the risks and impacts of the pandemic including those aimed at increasing awareness to climate-sensitive diseases and the ways of preventing them; (ii) preparing and delivering guidelines for health care workers for self-care and mental health practices; and (iii) producing and disseminating material to support households in mandatory isolation. Target population includes the poor and the elderly population, and this latter population is also more vulnerable to climate shocks such as extreme weather events. Additionally, this strategy will be adapted to secure a sustained effort to control the transmission and ensure that prevention and control measures are accepted and adopted by the population in the medium and longer term as well. With financing support mobilized from the active portfolio, this strategy will be revised with technical assistance from WHO and UN agencies, to ensure it is culturally relevant and appropriate, and differentiated by group characteristics (i.e. age, working conditions, vulnerability, others). Subcomponent 1.2: Strengthen critical aspects of health delivery to cope with increased demand of services posed by COVID-19 pandemic. This sub-component will finance the strengthening of the public health services, by equipping essential medical services, mainly ICUs, to increase the capacity of the public health system for the response to the COVID-19. This subcomponent will increase the availability of isolation rooms, ambulatory areas for screening, and address the immediate health system needs of medical supplies and medical devices to treat severe cases affected by COVID-19 emergency, promoting the use of climate smart technologies when possible. Considerations will be given to the procurement and mobilization of energy efficient equipment. Improvement in most ICUs will also consider a longer-term approach to strengthen the capacity of hospitals to provide intensive care treatments, which is essential for confronting the COVID-19 emergency.Component 2: Project Management and Monitoring [US$1 million]. This component would finance: (i) staff and operational costs of the Project I mplementation Unit (PIU) at the Ministry of Public Health (MSP); (ii) monitoring or project implementation and reporting; and (iii) Technical Assistance activities as needed.