EU donates P1.8 B for Phl health sector reforms

MANILA, Philippines - The European Union and the Philippines have signed a financing agreement providing a grant of €30 million (P1.8 billion) for the country’s health sector reforms.

The Philippines Health Sector Reform Contract (PHSRC), the third EU funded program to support the Philippine Health Sector Reform Agenda, was signed last July 30.

Under the agreement, the EU will provide a €30-million grant to support government initiatives in developing the country’s health sector.

Of the €30 million, the grant covers a budget support of €20.5 million directly channeled to the National Treasury, and a complementary component of €9.5 million aimed at funding various technical assistance and capacity building programs to strengthen the Department of Health (DOH)’s health delivery systems.

The signing of the agreement increases support of the EU to the health sector to a total €118 million or approximately P7.2 billion between 2006 and 2018.

EU has continuously supported DOH programs that have achieved remarkable progress over the past years.

Based on DOH data, noteworthy is the decline in child mortality from 58 in 1998 to 30 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011; the increase in the population’s insurance coverage from 62 percent in 2010 to 83 percent in 2012, of which 53 percent come from the poorest and most vulnerable families in the country.

Twenty-seven provinces have been declared malaria free, and the proportion of people infected with HIV and AIDS has remained below 1 percent of the population.

The agreement was signed by Europe Aid Cooperation for Asia Director Dirk Meganck, representing the EU, and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima for the Philippine government.

EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said that out of the €30-million grant, the EU is authorizing the release of €10 million to support the “Build Back Better” plan of the DOH after Typhoon Yolanda.

He said that the grant is an affirmation of the EU’s commitment to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable people have access to quality health services through a more effective, efficient and equitable health system.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that the DOH has continually aspired to strengthen national and local health systems by rationalizing and improving the quality of health services and ensuring better access to these services by Filipinos, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

“The partnership of the Philippines and the European Union provided the much needed boost to further the health sector reforms towards the achievement of universal health care for the Filipinos,” Ona said.