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HEALTH
Improved family health sustainably achieved
USAID's health program focuses on improving health outcomes of the family and prioritizing the poor and the marginalized.
The overall nutritional status of women and children in the Philippines has been declining in recent years. Much remains to be done to reduce micronutrient deficiencies, the cause of higher morbidity among women and children. The country also faces many challenges in containing infectious diseases, particularly Tuberculosis. On the positive side, the Philippines' HIV prevalence rate continues to remain very low however, prevention and vigilance are necessary.
USAID-supported programs focus on TB prevention, maternal and child health care, food fortification, surveillance and prevention of HIV/AIDS, as well as emerging diseases like avian influenza. All USAID activities support the Philippine government's health sector reform agenda.
The documented gap between actual versus wanted fertility (3.5 vs. 2.5 children per woman) in 2003 signals a significant unmet need for reproductive health services and commodities. USAID support in this regard has been anchored and continues to be anchored on two basic purposes: first, to improve the health of mothers and children; and second, to ensure that Filipino women and couples who have expressed a desire to space their births and determine their family size have access to voluntary reproductive health services at the local government unit level and are free to make informed decisions about their reproductive lives.
USAID's health strategy targets the greatest barriers to sustainable progress: the capacity of LGUs to implement public health programs, the underutilization of the private sector, the lack of accurate and complete information on and access to a range of essential health services. especially among the poor, and the need for policies and financing that determine appropriate resource allocation in the health sector.
Intermediate Objectives of USAID's Health Program
- LGU provision and management of health services strengthened
- Provision of quality services by private and commercial providers expanded
- Appropriate healthy behaviors and practices increased
- Policy environment for financing and provision of services improved
Intermediate Result 1: LGU provision and management of health services strengthened
USAID will improve health service delivery by working with LGUs to strengthen: (1) key management systems to sustain service delivery; (2) financing for key priority health programs; and (3) performance of service providers. Currently, there are few informed and active community interest groups that motivate and assist local officials to find solutions to the systemic problems that beset local governments. This is especially the case when looking at the need to provide health services to the poor and indigent populations. To assure that LGUs maintain a greater focus on the need to strengthen health care management in their localities, advocacy groups should be supported to engage in policy dialogue. Achieving IR 1 will lead to greater LGU capability and accountability, both of which are prerequisites for long-term sustainability of priority health services.
Intermediate Result 2: Provision of quality services by private and commercial providers expanded
USAID will continue to assist the Philippine government in developing the private commercial sector as an alternative source of health services. A strengthened private sector health system will allow the government to focus its limited public resources on better serving the poor, especially the indigent population, while being confident that quality services are available and accessible to all. USAID assistance will support a robust and innovative private sector for delivery of basic health services such as maternal and child health care, reproductive health, TB treatment, HIV/AIDS prevention, micronutrient supplementation and food fortification. The capacity of the private sector to respond to such emerging diseases as avian influenza will also be enhanced.
Intermediate Result 3: Appropriate healthy behaviors and practices increased
Many of the health challenges facing the Philippines have communication dimensions. While communication alone cannot meet these challenges, it does play an integral part in an effective response. USAID will partner with public and private health officials to ensure that people will know about common health practices and their benefits, the signs and symptoms of common health disorders that they should take seriously, where they can go for treatment and health services, and national and local health policies that affect them. At the same time, USAID will raise awareness of the health situation and the current behavior change policy environment in the country as a whole and in their localities.
Intermediate Result 4: Policy environment for financing and provision of services improved
- The Philippine government, donors and other stakeholders have recognized that the expanded delivery of health services has been hampered either by unrealistic or outdated legal and regulatory barriers and the absence of appropriate supportive policies or guidelines both at the national and local levels. There is a need to carefully analyze these policy gaps and institute measures that will address them. USAID assistance to the Philippine government will: (1) ensure the availability of commodities in the long-term, (2) improve service provision, and (3) assure sustainable financing for information, services and products that will facilitate the delivery of maternal and child health, reproductive health, TB and HIV-AIDS services.