Press Release | October 18, 2024

The Department of Health (DOH) got approval on October 16, 2024 of two major health sector initiatives namely, the Health System Resilience Project (HSRP), and the one-year extension of the implementation period of USAID – Development Objective Grant Agreement (DOAg) for Improved Health for Underserved Filipinos from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The HSRP is a five-year Project aimed at improving health services and boosting the country’s ability to respond to health emergencies. This Project supports the country’s goal of improving healthcare through the 8-Point Action Agenda, which includes making healthcare accessible for all, leveraging technology for faster services, and protecting against pandemics. With a budget of PHP 27.9 billion, the HSRP will focus on building climate-resilient provincial health systems, strengthening health emergency response systems, and advancing digital health transformation. The Project is targeted to commence in 2025 and end in 2029.

It will focus on seventeen provinces across the country: three in Luzon (Isabela, Masbate, and Sorsogon), three in the Visayas (Iloilo, Bohol, and Leyte), and eleven in Mindanao (Zamboanga Del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Lanao Del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Davao de Oro, Davao Del Norte, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan Del Sur, Maguindanao Del Norte, and Maguindanao Del Sur).

The second Project, the USAID DOAg, focuses on addressing major health challenges on logistics, access to medicines, and the shortage of qualified health professionals in underserved areas. This initiative also aims to improve healthcare services delivery in critical health concerns, including tuberculosis (TB), family planning, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and other public health programs. Its primary objectives are to strengthen healthy behaviors, fortify the quality of health services delivery, and institutionalize key public health systems.

The approved DOAg is a one-year extension of the implementation period from September 30, 2024 to September 30, 2025 of the 2019 – 2024 DOAg. The NEDA Board also approved the change of the Project’s scope from 13 to 17 Regions, including Regions 1, 2, 4B, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). The objectives for this extension include (1) closing the gaps in family planning and in the delivery of TB services, (2) supporting the ongoing DOH health initiatives, and (3) transitioning health activities to the new USAID – Philippines Umbrella DOAg.

“The DOH extends its gratitude to the NEDA Board led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. These new health initiatives will greatly support the vision outlined in our National Objectives for Health, consequently geared towards achieving universal health care, where all people will have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship dahil sa Bagong Pilipinas, Bawat Buhay Mahalaga,” expressed by Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa.