In August 2019, the Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines launched its first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project that aims to strengthen the implementation the Universal Health Care (UHC) law. The PPP project is in collaboration with University of the Philippines (UP), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation (TF).
Funding for healthcare coverage has been an important area for attention for DOH after the signing of UHC law in February 2019 and PPP is one of the viable models it considered because of the cost and risk sharing between the public and private sectors. Technical cooperation on the PPP for UHC would provide a platform for leaders and specialists from the Philippines and Singapore to share knowledge and expertise in public-private partnerships with a focus on the health care sector. In addition, IFC will be able to share its wealth of experience, relevant case studies and international best practices in structuring PPP projects from over 300 projects it handled across the globe.
Among the objectives of the collaboration is to develop PPP transaction documents, such as bid documents and concession agreements that will serve as a reference for future PPP projects. TF is supporting the project through a grant of SGD 585,282 (USD 421,840) with co-funding support from the DOH and IFC.
The UHC Act was signed into law in February 2019. It will automatically enroll all Filipinos under the government’s health insurance program. The UHC’s objective is to ensure that all Filipinos receive a full range of high quality health care services – from preventive to promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative – at affordable cost.
(Sources: Department of Health, Philippine News Agency, BusinessWorld)
