THE Department of Finance (DoF) said on Wednesday it is actively seeking more funding sources to support projects in the health sector.
“This includes providing more healthcare facilities, ensuring accessible access to them through better infrastructure, ensuring food security for all through boosting our agricultural productivity, giving economic opportunities for our people to increase their incomes and capacity to buy medicines and vitamins, and lifting more Filipinos out of poverty—because this ultimately breeds hunger and disease,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement.
Mr. Recto and Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa met on Sept. 30 to discuss funding requirements for the government’s health projects.
Among the projects discussed include the P14.31-billion Health Facilities Enhancement Program for infrastructure, medical equipment, and transport vehicle support to health facilities nationwide; and a P136-million project for the Department of Health’s disease surveillance mandate.
They also discussed projects on immunization, health literacy, nutrition, and access to medicines, among others.
Mr. Recto also shared the DoF has secured funding for the implementation of the Health System Resilience Project Phase I, which has a cost of P27.92 billion, while Mr. Herbosa said the Health department has identified 17 provinces for the project’s pilot run, which are mostly areas with poor healthcare access. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
