Canada offers P44 million aid to help Philippines fight COVID-19

An announcement was made via a media release from the Canadian embassy in the Philippines stating that the government of Canada is donating about P44 million worth of assistance to help the country fight the pandemic.

The said amount is split into two initiatives being launched in the Philippines to help combat the pandemic.

• Purchase a target of 120,000 N95 masks for medical frontline workers which will cost approximately $782,000 (part of Canada’s $4.5M in-kind contribution to six ASEAN countries)
• Additional $400,000 funding for the existing Sexual Health and Empowerment Philippines (SHE) project with Oxfam to ensure the unhampered provision of sexual and reproductive health services.

The donation aims to boost the supply of N95 masks and sustain reproductive health services in the country amid the COVID crisis.

“This investment complements ongoing response activities, including the establishment of an emergency hotline for health services and gender-based violence, procurement of PPEs for barangay health workers, and distribution of family planning information materials” stated in the media release.

The Philippines currently deals with more than 23,000 confirmed cases of the virus. The country is also expected to receive COVID-19 diagnostic equipment, kits, and laboratory tools from a $5M global project that Canada is funding with the International Atomic Energy Agency to help improve daily testing.

Canada is also supporting other ASEAN countries by providing PPEs.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat that does not recognize borders and can only be overcome through coordinated action around the world, ” said in the media release posted by the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines.