On 13 December, the EU Office in BiH announced a €10-million project to strengthen preventive and primary healthcare in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project is part of the European Union’s ongoing support to the health sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will be implemented by Unicef, the World Health Organisation, and the World Bank.

Over the next four years, the EU Support to Health Sector Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina project will focus on supporting reforms of primary healthcare and capacity building of the BiH health sector. It will also contribute to the development of policies to scale up child health services with a focus on childhood immunisation, early childhood development services, nutrition and mental health.

During the pandemic, the donor providing the largest amount of support to BiH has been the EU, giving more than €20 million for the procurement of high quality medical equipment, vaccines and cold chain equipment to store vaccines. The EU has also provided more than €75 million to support socioeconomic recovery in BiH from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of strengthening the BiH economy, ensuring retention of existing job and creating new ones.