Strengthening Lebanon’s Covid-19 Response

Project Implementation Status

Project Ratings: Based on the December 2025 Implementation Status and Results (ISR) report prepared by the World Bank, the Project’s overall implementation progress rating was upgraded to Moderately Satisfactory, while the progress towards achievement of the PDO was maintained as Moderately Satisfactory. The following actions contributed to the upgrade of the implementation progress rating: (i) major medical equipment procurement packages were awarded; (ii) two withdrawal applications were submitted; (iii) Results Framework indicators were updated based on actual service delivery data provided by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH); and (iv) a new Project Coordinator was hired in October 2025. The Project closed on December 31,2025, with a Satisfactory overall outcome rating. As per the Summary Project Assessment, the project achieved the PDO, with all PDO indicators partially achieved or surpassed and intermediate results partially achieved.
Project Restructuring: As the pandemic context evolved and vaccination needs declined, the original Project scope became unfeasible. To ensure continued relevance and alignment with the evolving health priorities in Lebanon, the MoPH requested project restructuring which consisted of: (i) reallocating funds across components and disbursement categories; (ii) extending the Project closing date by 15 months, from September 30, 2024, to December 30, 2025; and (c) revising the results framework (RF). The restructuring was approved on September 24, 2024.

Progress by component:

Component 1 – Procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and deployment

Activities related to vaccine procurement, deployment, and hospitalization claims were discontinued following restructuring, and budgets were reallocated to hospital equipment and readiness. This decision reflected external factors beyond the Project’s control, including the evolving pandemic context and declining vaccine uptake across population groups.

Component 2- COVID-19 prevention, detection and case management

This component achieved substantial results during the reporting period. Procurement planning and processing accelerated significantly during July to December 2025, and the installation of medical equipment was concentrated during the last quarter of 2025. The Project financed and installed advanced diagnostic, radiology, laboratory, and dialysis equipment across the public hospital network, significantly strengthening national capacity for COVID-19 diagnosis, case management, and emergency response. This included five 128-slice CT scanners, thirteen 64-slice CT scanners, core laboratory and radiology equipment, and 136 dialysis machines across 36 public hospitals, improving service readiness—particularly in underserved areas. These procurements will help strengthen the operational capacity of public hospitals, improve access to quality care for vulnerable populations, including Lebanese and Syrian refugees, and are expected to deliver sustained benefits beyond Project closure.

Component 3 – System Strengthening, Monitoring and Management

Under Subcomponent 3.1, implementation capacity improved during the reporting period. The Project Management Unit (PMU) was staffed with procurement, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, environmental and social safeguards, technical and administrative functions. Two biomedical engineers were recruited to support equipment specification and evaluation. The revised Project Operations Manual (POM) and the January-June 2025 progress report were submitted in August 2025. The Borrower’s evaluation report was submitted in December 2025. The final bi-annual progress report should be submitted mid-Feb 2026.

Under Subcomponent 3.2 (financed by the Global Public Goods grant), two procurement packages were financed: (i) Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) equipment, aimed at strengthening national laboratory capacity; and (ii) Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD) equipment, to enhance infection prevention and control and sterilization capacity in public hospitals. Progress under this subcomponent related to digital health and broader system strengthening remained limited. While MoPH recruited two consultants to assess the existing IT infrastructure at the MoPH data center and identify priority hardware and software needs, the planned enhancement of hospital health information systems was not achieved due to the late start of activities and the complexity of the digital transformation agenda. Energy-efficient solutions were also deprioritized, given parallel support from other development partners.