The U.S. government has provided an additional Php66 million ($1.3 million) to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines, bringing total U.S. government assistance to more than Php203 million ($4 million) to date.

The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is coordinating with the Philippine Department of Health, and other stakeholders to intensify efforts to control COVID-19 in the country and beyond.

“This U.S. government support to the Philippine Department of Health for its COVID-19 response demonstrates our longstanding commitment to our Philippine friends, partners, and allies in times of need,” said U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim.

Through this additional assistance, USAID will augment its support for the country’s laboratory systems; intensify case-finding and event-based surveillance; fortify systems to prevent and control infections; expand risk communication; and support Filipino and international technical experts to enhance response and preparedness. This aid will enable the Philippines to expand its testing capacity so that more people who have COVID-19 will be able to access life-saving treatment. USAID’s assistance will also provide more Filipinos and health care providers access to the latest and most accurate information about COVID-19.

Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested nearly Php29.6 billion ($582 million) in the Philippine health sector, and has provided nearly Php228.8 billion ($4.5 billion) in total development assistance to advance the country’s development goals.

For decades, the United States has been the world's largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously made available more than $100 billion dollars in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally. This generosity is underscored by our contributions to several crucial multilateral partners, which includes:

• U.S. contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, which exceeded $400 million, almost double the second largest member state contribution;
• U.S. support to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) of nearly $1.7 billion contributed in 2019. This support will be critical going forward, as refugee populations are uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• U.S. contributions to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2019 totaled more than $700 million.The life-saving activities UNICEF has been doing for years -- such as immunization campaigns and health and sanitation training and assistance -- will save lives as we fight this dangerous pathogen.

Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19.

For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19.