Islamic Development Bank finances Türkiye's plan for recovery of health services in quake-hit regions

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry have signed a $120 million deal to contribute to Türkiye's reconstruction and recovery plan for health services in earthquake affected areas.

The Feb. 6, 2023 twin earthquakes hit 11 provinces in Türkiye, killing over 50,000 people.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kerem Donmez, director general of the ministry, said the facility will play a crucial role in re-establishing high quality health facilities to serve citizens in the affected region, especially in the province of Kahramanmaras.

Walid Abdelwahab, director of IsDB Group Regional Hub Turkiye (RHT), said the IsDB Group, as a trusted development partner for Türkiye since 1974, is contributing to Türkiye's post-earthquake hospitals reconstruction project, aiming to support the country’s efforts towards rapid delivery of health facilities and services to improve the quality of life for the earthquake affected population.

"This is the third development financing agreement that we are signing with the government of Türkiye in the past three months, all aimed at bringing life fully back on track in the southern provinces, which bore the brunt of the devastating earthquake of February 2023," he added.

The project aims to construct at least 13 hospitals in quake-hit provinces. Once operational, they shall provide more than 1,350 modern hospital beds, making available access to in/out-patient health care for nearly 2.8 million people.