The World Bank on Tuesday announced a new support package for Ukraine in the amount of $454 million for the Transforming Healthcare through Reform and Investments in Efficiency (THRIVE) project, the bank said in a statement.

"In the third year of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is facing severe fiscal stress, making it essential to continue implementing health reforms that improve the efficiency of public funds," said Robert Saum, the World Bank Country Director for Eastern Europe.

The reforms supported by the THRIVE project will help reduce unnecessary financial burdens on patients, while enhancing the accessibility and resilience of the health care sector, he added.

Financing for the THRIVE program includes loans totaling $449 million from the Japan-supported ADVANCE Ukraine Trust Fund and the World Bank, and a $5 million grant from the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Reform Trust Fund (URTF).

THRIVE was created using the World Bank's Program for Results (PforR) financing instrument. This initiative will support government efforts to prioritize funding within the Program for Medical Guarantees – Ukraine’s universal population coverage, enhance the technical and operational capacity of the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), assist with strategic planning, and strengthen the health sector's management capacity.

The World Bank recalls that other ongoing projects include emergency operations for health, education, transport, energy, housing, agriculture, government programs for the private sector and public administration, which have mobilized donor partner resources through a flexible design to disburse funds quickly and can be scaled as necessary when additional financing becomes available.