The World Bank has approved a $100-million (P5-billion) loan for the Philippines’ COVID-19 Emergency Response Project to help it meet urgent health care needs in the wake of the pandemic and boost its public health preparedness.
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In a statement Thursday, the bank said the project will be implemented by the Health department, and it will help strengthen the health-care delivery system for critical medical services in the face of increased demand in the coming months.
“Boosting the country’s capacity to respond to COVID-19 will save lives,” Achim Fock, the World Bank’s acting country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, said.
“The government has taken quick and decisive action in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the World Bank is proud to support its efforts. Right now, no other investment offers greater return.”
The project will focus on providing personal protective equipment such as goggles, gloves and 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 and portable x-ray machines, laboratory equipment and test kits.
The project will also support the necessary logistics and supply chains to help ensure that the equipment will reach front-line health facilities without delays.
The project will also support the Health department 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 the quality of COVID-19 health care services.
This project will also finance the expansion of the Philippines’ laboratory capacity at the national and sub-national levels for the prevention of and preparedness against emerging infectious diseases.
It will support the 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 do not have these facilities.
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The Philippines is one of the countries in East Asia and the Pacific hit hard by COVID-19. The COVID-19 Emergency Response Project is part of the World Bank Group’s fast-track package to strengthen the COVID-19 response in developing countries and shorten the time to recovery.
On April 9, 2020, the World Bank’s board approved $500 million in financing to help strengthen the Philippine government’s capacity to address disaster risks, respond to and recover from natural disasters, and address the urgent needs created by the COVID-19 crisis.
The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response, increase disease surveillance, improve public health interventions, and help the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs.
It is deploying up to $160 billion in financial support over the next 15 months to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses and bolster economic recovery.