The project will help improve access to services in urban areas of the country through public-private partnerships.

The bank’s social sector specialist, Brian Chin, said: “ADB’s support of the government-led urban primary healthcare services project approved in 2012 has been filling a vacuum created by the lack of urban public primary healthcare by increasing access to quality services, especially for poor households.”

The 2012 project covers 10 cities and four municipalities, representing about 17% of the total urban population of 57 million people.

The additional financing announced this week will cover the cost of a five-year extension to help the government strengthen local health systems and continue to expand the public-private partnership system of contracting service providers.

It will also expand coverage to an additional 10 municipalities and build eight reproductive healthcare centres and 24 primary healthcare centres across the country.

The initiative is one of the largest PPP projects for primary healthcare delivery in South Asia.