INAPRUBAHAN ng Asian Development Bank (ADB) ang isang $450-million policy-based loan upang tulungan ang Pilipinas na palakasin ang universal healthcare program nito.
“The policy loan was aimed to strengthen health policy reforms and further improve Filipinos’ access to medicines and health services, sustain universal health care coverage, and increase financing for UHC,” ayon sa ADB.
Sinabi ng multilateral lender na ang loan, sa ilalim ng Build Universal Health Care Program (Subprogram 2), ay makatutulong para mapaigting ang pagsisikap ng pamahalaan na magpatupad ng mahahalagang reporma sa ilalim ng UHC Act of 2019.
“These reforms include sustainable financing for UHC, the integrated delivery of quality health services, and the interoperability of health information systems,” sabi pa ng ADB.
Ayon sa multilateral lender, ang bagong loan-funded program ay kasunod ng financing support na ipinagkaloob sa ilalim ng Build UHC Subprogram 1 at technical assistance na pinondohan ng Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific na inaprubahan noong November 2021.
Sa ilalim ng Subprogram 2, ang pamahalaan ay nag-adopt ng isang updated health financing strategy, isang national medicine access policy, at National Health Data Repository framework.
Ang multilateral lender ay katuwang ng Philippine government magmula pa noong 2016 sa pagbuo at pagpapatupad ng UHC Act, at sumusuporta sa pagsisikap ng pamahalaan na palakasin ang health system.
“This includes assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic via the Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 and the Second Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility, which helped secure much-needed COVID-19 vaccines for Filipinos,” anang ADB.
Nilagdaan ni dating President Rodrigo Duterte noong 2020 bilang batas ang Universal Health Care Act, na awtomatikong nag-e-enroll sa lahat ng Filipino citizens sa National Health Insurance Program.
Kamakailan lamang ay inanunsiyo ng ADB ang $10-billion support program para sa Pilipinas na makatutulong sa climate commitments ng bansa sa ilalim ng Paris Agreement mula 2024 hanggang 2029.
Noong nakaraang taon ay inaprubahan din ng ADB ang $250-million policy-based loan na layong suportahan ang climate change adaptation atbmitigation efforts ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas.
