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When Iderzaya Davaajav, a 43-year-old man, first contracted COVID-19, he hardly knew what he would go through. Without any known pre-existing conditions, he was admitted to the hospital with 95% of his lungs damaged.

¡°It was getting very hard to breathe¡­,¡± said Iderzaya. ¡°I was worried a lot. I was worried about my children and my family.¡±

Iderzaya was in hospital for 41 days while his lungs were infected with the coronavirus and couldn¡¯t function.

¡°When I was getting treatment at the reanimation unit, I experienced firsthand the benefits of improved health services in the hospital. The doctors took tests and imaging regularly, using modern mobile equipment by my bedside, so I didn¡¯t have to be moved to other places,¡± he said.

Iderzaya is now fully recovered. He is convinced that without the doctors and the equipment, his life would have been in danger.

(From left to right) Dr. S. Narangerel, Third State Hospital; Andrei Mikhnev, World Bank Country Manager for Mongolia; S. Enkhbold, Minister of Health, and B. Yanjmaa, International Cooperation Division Director, Ministry of Health. (Photo: World Bank)

Gearing up ahead of the crisis

Mobile x-rays, ventilators, and other types of equipment were part of the package financed under the World Bank-supported Mongolia COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Sector Preparedness Project. The project is supporting Mongolia¡¯s emergency needs while also helping the country prepare for future health crises.

¡°The project was approved in April 2020, when we had no local COVID-19 outbreaks [in Mongolia]. Thanks to acting early, we were able to gear up ahead of the local outbreak,¡± said Dr. Buyantogtokh, Project Director at the Ministry of Health. ¡°This made a huge difference. When first patients started to get admitted to the hospitals in late 2020, we were already prepared, so the treatment was very effective.¡±

This has not only helped the hospitals improve infection prevention control and patient care, but also increased their diagnostic, laboratory, and treatment capacity. The project also supported training for emergency care doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff, as well as infection control measures and public information campaigns. An additional $1 million grant was provided through the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility to help the country supply more than 4 million pieces of personal protective equipment to health care providers and officers at high-risk screening points.

¡°The fact that we were able to procure the equipment at a factory price, on a very tight timeline, and amid a global shortage of medical goods is something that we are very satisfied with and proud of,¡± said J.Bayartogtokh, a procurement specialist of the project.

Safe and effective vaccines for all  

In February 2021, an additional financing of $50.7 million (to an initial $26.9 million) for the project was approved to support fair and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as continued response and recovery efforts. Since August 2021, Mongolia has started administering booster shots, as well as vaccines to 12 to 17-year-olds.

¡°Aging infrastructure had made storing and deploying routine childhood vaccines across the country a challenge,¡± said Dashpagma, head of the vaccination unit of the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD). ¡°The influx of COVID-19 vaccines for most of the adult population has exacerbated this problem, so we were in urgent need of a comprehensive solution.¡±

The vaccine storage facility ¨C four times more spacious than the old facility ¨C was built in accordance with high international standards. The facility is energy-efficient, earthquake resistant, and fully equipped with modern engineering and safety systems to ensure safe and effective deployment.

Going beyond health

Support for social insurance has provided direct relief for about 120,000 people enrolled in the country¡¯s voluntary plan¡ªincluding self-employed workers, micro-entrepreneurs, and the informally employed¡ªas well as workers and employers in the formal sector. This helped people cover daily expenses during the crisis while maintaining access to pensions, disability and unemployment benefits, and paid maternity leave. In addition, the World Bank mobilized $5 million through to support the government¡¯s Child Money Program, benefiting more than 1 million children. 

¡°As a doctor myself, I know that the equipment, vaccines, and training provided have helped to prevent many deaths from COVID-19 and improved medical care for other diseases,¡± said project lead Kate Mandeville.