European Union supporting Mongolia in mitigating COVID-19 impact

Society
baljmaa@montsame.gov.mn
2020-10-30 15:31:32

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On October 30, today, the European Union together with the Minister of Health and the World Health Organization launched a joint ‘Mongolia COVID-19 Crisis Response’ project. 


The European Union is providing support of EUR 1 million and WHO is providing EUR 62,000 and technical guidance to Mongolia’s health sector and beyond over the course of three years as a complement to the national preparedness plan for COVID-19.


As of today, Mongolia does not have a local transmission of COVID-19. However, the number of cases continues to increase in other countries. Thanking the support from the European Union and World Health Organization to launch the “Mongolia COVID-19 Crisis Response” during this critical time, Minister of Health Dr Munksaikhan Togtmol said, “Within the framework of this project, we will focus on strengthening laboratory capacity, preparedness of essential health care services, multi-source information surveillance system, monitoring and evaluation mechanism.”


Expressing the European’s Union commitment to support Mongolia during the COVID-19 crisis response, the EU Ambassador to Mongolia, H.E. Traian Hristea, highlighted further, “I want to recognize the continuous effort of the Government, the Ministry of Health and the health authorities that has been instrumental in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis in Mongolia. The project is part of the EU’s COVID-19 response package of EUR 37.5 million to Mongolia. Together with the Minister of Health and our partner WHO we make a commitment today: to sustainably enhance the capacity of the health sector and strengthen the national health system to mitigate the impact of any potential health crisis.


Emphasizing that the impact of this project will last long after its timeframe, WHO Representative to Mongolia Dr. Sergey Diorditsa said, “I prefer to call this project a joint initiative among the Ministry of Health, the European Union and WHO. As a project, it has a start and an end date. But it is in effect an investment in Mongolia’s health system with long-term results. By strengthening national capacity, it will prepare the country not only for COVID-19, but also for potential outbreaks and health emergencies in the future.”


The project will be implemented by WHO Mongolia in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and will focus on three specific areas: strengthening the capacity of the national health system to monitor, prevent, and control the spread and effects of COVID-19; strengthening laboratory capacity at national and sub-national levels; and ensuring continuity and quality of essential health care services during wide-spread community transmission and lockdown. 


This will result in response coordination without any delays and duplications, more accurate identification of capacity gaps in health services, better mobilization of resources, well-informed decision-making and continuous improvement of the system. 

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