World Bank approves $100m funding for Philippines COVID-19 fight

The World Bank has approved a $100 million loan for the Philippines COVID-19 Emergency Response Project to help meet urgent healthcare needs in the wake of the pandemic and bolster the country’s public health preparedness.

The project, which will be implemented by the Department of Health, will help strengthen the essential healthcare delivery system for critical medical services in the face of increased demand in the coming months.  

The project will focus on providing personal protective equipment such as goggles, gloves, gowns; drugs such as antivirals, antibiotics and essential medicines; and medical supplies such as intensive care unit equipment and devices such as mechanical ventilators, cardiac monitors, portable x-ray machines; laboratory equipment and test kits. In addition, it will support the necessary logistics and supply chains to help ensure that the equipment will reach frontline health facilities without delays.

The financing will also support the DOH in preparing guidance on standard design for hospital isolation and treatment centers to manage Severe Acute Respiratory Infections patients, which will be used in health facilities across the country to ensure standards and quality of COVID-19 healthcare services.

This project will also fund the expansion of the country’s laboratory capacity at the national and sub-national levels for prevention of and preparedness against emerging infectious diseases. It will support retrofitting of the national reference laboratory – the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine – as well as six sub-national and public health laboratories in Baguio, Cebu, Davao, and Manila, and finance the construction and expansion of laboratory capacity in priority regions that currently do not have these facilities.