• CAR launches $52.8 million World Bank-funded health security program

• Initiative targets prevention, detection, response, coordination across CEMAC

• Program aims to address weak health system, staff shortages, high mortality

Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra on Tuesday officially launched the Health Security Program (HeSP) in the country and across the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

The program, funded by the World Bank, carries a budget of 30 billion CFA francs, or approximately $52.8 million, over five years, with 100% national coverage. It is structured around four pillars: prevention, detection, response and coordination. Its goal is to sustainably strengthen the health system in Central African Republic and across the CEMAC region.

Like several African countries, Central African Republic faces significant health challenges, including a shortage of qualified personnel. Only 40% of births are attended by skilled staff. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the maternal mortality rate stood at 829 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, and the infant mortality rate is 99 per 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth is estimated at 53.3 years, well below the African average of 64 years, WHO said. The overall availability of health services stands at 33.7%, and the distribution of health professionals is highly uneven. Some 56% of the population has access to only 13% of nurses and 12% of midwives, while 60% of doctors are concentrated in the capital, Bangui, according to WHO.

Lydie Mobio