The Government of the Philippines faces key challenges in its health sector that impede its ability to provide quality, accessible, and equitable healthcare to the over 100 million Filipinos living in the country. These challenges include global health crises and natural disasters, weak health systems performance, and gaps in the continuum of care. Underserved populations continue to suffer from a high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB)—including multidrug-resistant TB; a concentrated HIV epidemic; rising infectious disease outbreaks— including measles, dengue, and zoonotic diseases; high unmet need for family planning; high teenage pregnancy rates; and preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Out-of-pocket expenditure still accounts for a significant proportion of health spending, putting Filipino families at risk for impoverishment when accessing health services. Cross-cutting issues like gender inequality and the impact of climate change also affect people’s access to quality healthcare.
To address these challenges, USAID works with government partners to strengthen health systems, promote positive social norms and behaviors, and improve the quality of primary health care. USAID also supports national and local governments in implementing the Universal Health Care Law by enhancing health leadership and governance, training healthcare workers, safeguarding the rights and welfare of community health workers, and establishing health care provider networks. In collaboration with the Department of Health, USAID integrates mental health services into primary care and ensures that gender equality and social inclusion are embedded in all aspects of healthcare delivery. USAID also focuses on strengthening public financial management, improving supply chain management, refining health information systems, and expanding coverage of quality health services. This comprehensive approach aims to build resilient health systems that can improve health outcomes for all Filipinos.
PROJECTS
BARMM Resilience Activity
The project enhances the local capacity of the region (BARMM Ministry of Health, provinces and cities) to pursue key and cross-cutting reforms in health systems. It focuses on strengthening health governance, financing, supply chain and logistics, human resources for health, and health information systems to facilitate implementation of Tuberculosis, Family Planning and Adolescent Reproductive Health, and Global Health Security programs. To promote resilience in health, the activity fortifies local health systems, as well as local ownership and capacity in pandemic preparedness and response, while bolstering positive social norms and healthy behaviors, and improving the quality of primary health care services.
Expanding Access to Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Program (RenewHealth)
In the Philippines, drug use is a national issue that impacts the health, social, and economic well-being of Filipinos. RenewHealth works in partnership with Philippine government agencies to improve the quality of community-based drug rehabilitation (CBDR) and recovery services, and ultimately reduce drug dependence in the Philippines. The project offers proven public health approaches to CBDR that persons who use drugs and their families can access without fear or prejudice. Working with the Philippine government and local stakeholders, the project enables healthy behaviors and demand for CBDR services; enhances the quality of patient-centered and compassionate CBDR services, and strengthens the policies and systems for sustainable CBDR service delivery. Having established the strong correlation between substance use and mental health issues, the project assists the Department of Health (DOH) in integrating mental health with substance use management and services. The project also expands mental health promotion and interventions to settings such as schools and workplaces.
Family Planning and Maternal and Neonatal Health Innovations and Capacity Building Platforms (ReachHealth)
ReachHealth strengthens health services for Filipino families by improving family planning access, reducing teen pregnancy, and enhancing maternal and neonatal health outcomes. It enhances community knowledge and behaviors, expands access to quality care, and builds provider capacity. The project also bolsters health system governance, finance, and resources. Additionally, ReachHealth promotes demand for these services, addresses gender barriers, and collaborates with Philippine counterparts to tackle local health challenges. It also implemented COVID-19 response efforts, including national vaccination acceleration. Furthermore, ReachHealth integrates reproductive empowerment, establishes supportive and equitable gender norms and attitudes, promotes male engagement and involvement in family planning and maternal health, prevents gender-based violence, and fosters social inclusion.
Meeting Targets and Maintaining HIV Epidemic Control (EpiC HIV)
To control one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Asia and the Pacific, EpiC employs a range of differentiated, person-centered testing and treatment services that better respond to the needs of key populations who are disproportionately affected by HIV. The activity works in lockstep with the Philippine government and civil society to break through persistent barriers in diagnosing people living with HIV. USAID assistance is working to immediately start and keep people living with HIV on life-saving treatment and ensuring that they are virally suppressed so they cannot pass the virus onto their loved ones. It improves access to game-changing prevention and treatment interventions such as oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, and the transition to optimized HIV treatment regimens. To ensure a sustainable national HIV response, EpiC provides site-, regional-, and central level support for policy development, continuous quality improvement, and strategic information.
World Health Organization (WHO) - Global Health Security
USAID's Global Health Security Program seeks to prevent and mitigate the increasing occurrence and severity of epidemics, pandemics and other emerging infectious disease threats. In the Philippines, USAID works with the World Health Organization to bolster the Philippines’ health emergency preparedness and response capacity at regional and local levels so it can effectively respond to pandemics and other disease outbreaks. Activities include enhancing laboratory and diagnostic capacity of pathogens, bolstering genomic and disease surveillance, aligning information systems, as well as strengthening antimicrobial surveillance and wastewater assessment in healthcare facilities.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - Technical Assistance for Animal Health Systems to Address Emerging and Priority Zoonotic Diseases and Health Threats
The project strengthens the Philippines’ animal health systems to reduce the risks and impacts of emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and other biothreats through a coordinated and collaborative action of the human, animal, and environmental health sectors. Implemented in close coordination with key government agencies and other stakeholders, project activities will enhance national and regional collaboration to address animal and public health threats, bolster animal health capabilities for preparedness and response to public health threats, and implement key strategies to prevent disruptions in the value and supply chain.
Breakthrough Action- Global Health Security
The project works with Philippine government partners to improve the country’s risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) capabilities. This helps ensure that Filipinos gain access to timely and accurate health information so that they are better prepared and able to adopt life-saving interventions especially during health emergencies. Activities include strengthening stakeholder communications and coordination on RCCE and creating a community feedback system for the Department of Health so it can effectively shape and implement effective community engagements on health.
USAID One Health Workforce - Next Generation (South East Asia One Health University network and Philippine One Health University Network)
The project empowers university networks in Africa and Southeast Asia to become global leaders in One Health, a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach — working at the local, regional, national, and global levels — to achieve optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. Activities include delivering state-of-the-art, scalable, and sustainable systems that are designed to create the next generation of health workforce highly capable of preventing, detecting, and responding to the world’s greatest health threats.
