ADB OKs $450M loan to boost PH universal health care financing

Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a fresh round of loan funding for the Philippines to strengthen the country's health policy reforms and boost financing for universal health care (UHC).

In a statement on Wednesday, the ADB said it has green lit a $450-million policy-based loan for the country.

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,” according to the multilateral lender.

The ADB said the loan, under the Build Universal Health Care Program (Subprogram 2), will be helping scale up the government’s efforts to implement key reforms under the 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,” it said.

The ADB said the new loan-funded program follows on its previous financing support provided under Build UHC Subprogram 1 and technical assistance financed by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific approved in November 2021.

Under Subprogram 2, the government has adopted an updated health financing strategy, a national medicine access policy, and the National Health Data Repository framework, according to the ADB.

The lender said it has been a partner of the Philippine government since 2016 in crafting and implementing the UHC Act, and has been supporting government efforts to boost the 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,” the bank said.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2020 signed the Universal Health Care Act into law, which automatically enrolled all Filipino citizens into the National Health Insurance Program.

The ADB earlier this week announced a $10-billion support program for the Philippines to implement its commitments to climate action under the Paris Agreement from 2024 to 2029.

The multilateral lender last year also approved a $250-million policy-based loan aimed at supporting the Philippine government’s climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. —Ted Cordero and Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/KBK, GMA Integrated News