WORLD BANK OKS $100-M LOAN TO PROTECT 16,700 DEFENSELESS FILIPINOS

The World Bank greenlit a $100million loan for the Department of Health’s (DOH) COVID19 Emergency Response Project, under which more medical supplies will be purchased and laboratories set up to save over 16,700 Filipinos from the deadly new coronavirus disease.

“The project will focus on providing personal protective equipment such as goggles, gloves, gowns; drugs such as antivirals, antibiotics and essential medicines; and medical supplies such as intensive care unit (ICU) equipment and devices such as mechanical ventilators, cardiac monitors, portable Xray machines; laboratory equipment and test kits,” the Washingtonbased lender said in a statement.

It added the project would also help untangle choke points in supply chains and logistics to ensure the necessary equipment would reach hospitals without delays.

The loan would likewise fund the rehabilitation and expansion of the country’s laboratories, including the “retrofitting” of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and six other subnational and public health laboratories in Baguio, Davao and Manila.

“The project will also support the DOH in preparing guidance on standard design for hospital isolation and treatment centers to manage severe acute respiratory infections patients, which will be used in health facilities across the country to ensure standards and quality of COVID19 healthcare services,” it added.

“Boosting the country’s capacity to respond to COVID19 will save lives. The government has taken quick and decisive action in the fight against the COVID19 pandemic and the World Bank is proud to support its efforts. Right now, no other investment offers

Cebu, greater return,” said Achim Fock, World Bank acting country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Citing a report from the multilateral agency, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III had said an estimated 100,000 Filipino lives were likely saved from the virus after the government imposed a lockdown over Luzon and other parts of the country to stop the disease from spreading.

World Bank loan documents, as seen by Inquirer, showed the COVID19 Emergency Response Project’s interventions may have helped the country avoid deaths of about 10 percent, in the process protecting 16,702 lives.