The Philippines is challenged by high rates of maternal and neonatal mortality and tuberculosis (TB). The annual population growth rate, estimated at 1.6 percent in 2016, remains one of the highest in Southeast Asia. The documented gap between actual total fertility (2.7 children per woman) versus desired fertility (2 children per woman) signals that many Filipino women want to space or limit their pregnancy but do not receive adequate family planning information, commodities and services. It is estimated that one million Filipinos have TB and they may or may not know it. One in 15 TB deaths worldwide happens in the Philippines, and one in 20 new drug-resistant TB cases is found in the country. TB kills at least 60 Filipinos every day.

USAID's assistance enhances the capacity of the Philippines Department of Health, local governments (provinces, municipalities and cities) and the private sector to provide quality health services. All USAID activities support the Philippine government’s health care agenda and are implemented through a bilateral assistance agreement with the Department of Health. USAID-supported programs strengthen health systems while increasing the demand for and access to family planning and maternal and child health services and TB prevention, treatment and control.

PROJECTS

Collaborating, Learning and Adapting for Improved Health (CLAimHealth)

To improve the health of underserved Filipinos, USAID needs to strategically collaborate with partners, scale up good practices and adapt programs based on data-driven recommendations. To do this, CLAimHealth provides technical assistance, advisory services, capacity-building and related logistical support to USAID to carry out its monitoring and evaluation, learning and adaptive management of its Health Portfolio.

Community Maternal Neonatal Child Health and Nutrition Scale Up Follow-on (CMSU2)

As the frontliners in health care, midwives must play a stronger role in the maternal and child health and family planning services. The quality of midwifery care should benefit from continuous improvement. The CMSU2 enhances midwives’ proficiency in crucial maternal and child health skills. Its predecessor, CMSU1, developed the clinical, mentoring and organizational capacities of the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines, enabling the group to develop leaders, trainers and mentors. Building on the gains of CMSU1, the CMSU2 institutionalizes the peer mentoring approach and expands the roles of midwives in improving access to family planning services. The project also optimizes opportunities for midwives to provide family planning services to the underserved and strengthen public-private collaboration for a synergized health service delivery system.

Family Planning in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

The activity supports the Bangsomoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to achieve a self-reliant health system by catalyzing commitment and strengthening the capacity of the government, civil society and communities to develop, implement and finance solutions to improve health in BARMM. This activity is part of USAID's strategy in conflict-affected regions in Mindanao to build confidence in the local government's ability to delivery vital social services including health. Over the next five years, this activity will work to improve the demand for and supply of quality family planning and maternal and child health services for underserved Filipinos in BARMM.

Health Equity and Financial Protection Platform

The Health Equity and Financial Protection project is improving financial protection and equitable access to essential health services to maximize tuberculosis, family planning and reproductive health outcomes. The project strengthens and institutionalizes effective approaches and practices that will support the Department of Health and PhilHealth to address operational bottlenecks that impede effective implementation of health financing policies. The project also improves institutional capacity of the two agencies to collect and use information to improve financing of tuberculosis, family planning and reproductive health programs.

Human Resources for Health 2030 in the Philippines (HRH2030/Philippines)

In the Philippines, only 10 percent of the country's health workers serve in rural areas, leaving some municipalities without an adequate health workforce. Significant variations in the availability of and access to quality health services, and deficiencies in supervision and mentoring result in inequities in health outcomes. HRH2030/Philippines builds the capacity of the Philippine government to strengthen the development, deployment, training and management of the health workforce to improve equity, access and quality of family planning, maternal and child health, and tuberculosis control services for vulnerable populations.

Institutionalization of the Health Leadership and Governance Program (IHLGP)

Throughout the Philippines, leadership and governance capabilities of local chief executives and health officers affect people’s access to health services, especially for vulnerable populations who rely on government facilities for family planning, maternal and child health and tuberculosis services. IHLGP institutionalizes leadership and governance capacity building in central and regional health management systems. It bolsters the Department of Health’s regional offices’ leadership capacity to strengthen health systems at the regional and local levels.

Medicine Technology and Pharmaceutical System Project (MTaPS)

Numerous studies have shown that a major barrier to improving health outcomes is the inefficient and fragmented supply chain management system at all levels of the health system. The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) has demonstrated its commitment to a more integrated supply management system. The project assists DOH in establishing a fully functional supply chain management system from demand and supply planning to distribution and use at the point of care. The project also provides technical assistance to implement these changes while also building on existing work to facilitate reliable and timely supply of family planning and tuberculosis drugs and commodities to health facilities.

ReachHealth

ReachHealth strengthens and improves access to critical health services for Filipino families. The project aids Philippine communities to reduce unmet need for family planning services and decrease teen pregnancy and newborn morbidity and mortality. To address these challenges, ReachHealth improves individual, household and community knowledge and behaviors of family planning and maternal and neonatal health (FP/MNH); increases access to comprehensive quality care, including lifesaving maternal and newborn services, and increases the capacity of providers to deliver this care; and strengthens functionality of health systems across governance, finance, human resources, commodity availability and data. Additionally, ReachHealth generates demand for FP/MNH services and help women, men and adolescents overcome gender barriers. The project supports Philippine counterparts – primarily the Department of Health, Commission on Population and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, civil society, and the private sector – to identify and respond to local root causes of poor FP/MNH outcomes.

TB Innovations and Health Systems Strengthening (TB Innovations)

Despite substantial progress in TB control for the past 15 years, TB remains a key public health problem in the country. Gaps in case detection and access to TB care services persist, ranking the Philippines among the countries with high TB burden. TB Innovations supports the Government of the Philippines to end the TB epidemic by expanding the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies and approaches for case detection, appropriate treatment seeking behavior and treatment adherence interventions for vulnerable and high-risk populations. TB Innovations assists the Department of Health to actively identify, develop, test and scale-up innovative technologies and approaches adapted for the Philippines.

TB Platforms for Sustainable Detection, Care and Treatment (TB Platforms)

The Philippines remains among countries with the highest burden of TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Healthcare-seeking behavior of people with symptoms suggestive of TB remains low. Approximately 35 percent of TB-affected households face severe financial difficulties. The national efforts to fight TB need to be coupled with local capacity building, system strengthening and community engagement, including the private sector. TB Platforms aims to strengthen essential supportive and cross-cutting TB interventions at the provincial, local government and community levels to increase TB and drug-resistant TB case detection and treatment success rates.

Technical, Research, Education, and Technical Assistance for Tuberculosis (TREAT-TB) (field support)

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in the Philippines and is also of concern for other nations to which the disease may spread. MDR-TB is a particular challenge, with an estimated 15,000 cases in 2015. To address the burden of MDR-TB, the Philippines National TB Program has introduced the shorter treatment regimen (SSTR). TREAT TB is assists with the programmatic implementation of the standard shorter treatment regimen for MDR TB. TREAT TB offers technical assistance for clinicians and program managers to help them respond to clinical and programmatic challenges in the national scale up of the SSTR.

Recovery Within Our Reach: Expanding Access to Community-Based Drug Treatment and Recovery (CBDTR)

In the Philippines, the drug problem is considered a national concern that impacts not only the security but also the health, social, and economic well-being of Filipinos. In 2016, the Philippine government launched a campaign against illegal drugs. The campaign involved demand reduction activities, and, as a result, 1.3 million people surrendered to government authorities to avoid mandatory capture. The CBDTR project seeks to improve the quality of community-based treatment and recovery and ultimately reduce drug dependence in the Philippines. Working with government and local stakeholders, the project will enable healthy behaviors and demand for CBDTR services among people who use drugs and their families. CBDTR will also enhance the quality of patient-centered and compassionate CBDTR services, and strengthen the policies and systems for sustainable CBDTR service delivery.