The Head of Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Ambassador Christian Berger and the Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) office for Turkey Mr. Serge Snrech have signed an agreement to support the construction of a new state hospital in Hatay.
The new state hospital in Hatay is financed by a European grant in the framework of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRiT). The agreement is signed under the umbrella of Health Infrastructure Action aiming to facilitate access to health care for Syrian refugees and host communities while alleviating the pressure on existing health infrastructure and services.
The infrastructure projects are also complementing the other FRiT project for health, namely the Sıhhat Project (€300 million) which is the largest EU grant ever in the health sector in Turkey.
The agreement signed between the EU Delegation and the French Development Agency will provide 250 beds and several specialized services, including intensive pediatric and adult care, to improve access to health services of the Syrians and Hatay’s host communities. The agreement will also support the Turkish authorities in their efforts to cope with the massive influx of Syrian under temporary protection in Hatay, by contributing to an increase in the quality of services of the secondary health services.
On the occasion Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey said: “The agreement that we signed is an investment in health developed jointly by the EU and Turkey to re-assure Syrians and the host communities’ that their healthcare needs will be met efficiently”.
The hospital construction, which will be implemented under the Ministry of Health and AFD sponsorship, is expected to start operation in the first half of 2021.
Background:
The Health Infrastructure Action under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRiT) will finance the construction of hospitals with a total value of EUR 90 million. The projects will be implemented by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). The EUR 50 million project to construct a state hospital in Kilis was signed last month with CEB.
The European Union has been funding partners on the ground in response to the refugee crisis since 2011. Since January 2016, this support has been scaled up substantially with the entry into force of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey. Through the Facility, €3 billion have been mobilised to assist both refugees and host communities in Turkey, by providing large scale humanitarian and non-humanitarian assistance in key areas such as education, health, infrastructure, socio-economic development and migration management.
For further information, please contact the Delegation:
İlhan Gültekin, Programme Manager for Health, Facility for Refugees in Turkey
ilhan.gultekin@eeas.europa.eu / T +90 312 459 8859
For press inquiries, please contact the Delegation:
Miray Akdağ Uluç – Press Officer for the Delegation of the European Union in Turkey
miray.akdag-uluc@eeas.europa.eu
M +90 532 624 93 56 / T +90 312 459 88 77