Gov’t looking at local funding for illnesses after US aid pullout
Metro Manila, Philippines - The government is looking for local funding for programs for certain illnesses after the United States suspended foreign aid globally, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
RELATED: Health chief: US aid freeze has ‘minimal’ effect on PH
In a statement, the DOH identified the programs for human immunovirus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria, and tuberculosis.
The agency did not disclose the funding gap even as its officials remained optimistic that the shortfall will be addressed.
“Hindi po ganung apektado ang ating mga operasyon, ang bigayan ng serbisyo at produkto laban sa HIV/AIDS dahil meron pong pondo ang DOH,” Health spokesperson Albert Domingo told a Senate health committee hearing on Wednesday, when asked about the aid freeze impact.
[Translation: Our operations, the provision of services and products to fight HIV/AIDS are not that affected because the DOH has funds.]
For this year, Domingo said an estimated P830 million out of the P7.74 billion-budget of the DOH comes from international partners, such as the Global Fund and US Agency for International Development (USAID).
For the 2023-2025 period, the Global Fund has allocated around $168.06 million (around P9.78 billion) to the Philippines, with tuberculosis almost covering the share, according to data shown in the institution’s website.
The DOH said it met with the Philippine Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund (PCCM-GF), which was also attended by representatives from the European Union, World Health Organization Philippines, and UNAIDS.
“During the PCCM-GF meeting today (Feb. 12), it was reported that the decline in foreign fund allocations for the Philippines may pose significant challenges, as the country uses the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria for essential commodities such as second-line drugs, antiretroviral therapy, and human resources for health,” the DOH said.
Founded in 2002, the Global Fund is an international financing institution that “[invests] strategically in programs to end AIDS, TB and malaria as public health threats,” disbursing over $65 billion to fight the diseases.
The Global Fund said the Philippines has a “high” disease burden for HIV and tuberculosis, and “moderate” disease burden for malaria in 2023, making it eligible to receive funding. Disease burden refers to the impact of health issues on a population.
The US government, through the USAID, allotted around $190.6 million to the Philippines in 2023, data from the US government showed. Health projects amounted to some $48.55 million.
A partial report also showed the USAID released at least $144.4 million to the Philippines, with around $30.53 million for health initiatives.
“It is clear that governments including ours must recognize our own priorities and take more responsibility for financing these priorities in our national health budgets, lessening our dependence on international funding cycles and external decisions and protocols,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa was quoted as saying.
