THE United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday announced the approval of a $24.9-million grant to the Philippines, which FAO representative Lionel Dabbadie said “will enhance the country’s health systems, from bolstering disease surveillance and early warning systems, to strengthening laboratory networks and cross-sectoral collaboration.”
The UN agency will co-lead the grant’s implementation under the Resilient Philippines project. The money will come from the Pandemic Fund, launched by the Group of 20 (G20) in 2022 to directly respond to global vulnerabilities following the outbreak of Covid-19. The G20, composed of 19 countries, plus the European Union and African Union, was formed to address issues affecting the global economy including financial stability, climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
Dabbadie said the project was timely since the Philippines consistently ranked high in the World Risk Index, a statistical model that provides an assessment of the latent risk of 193 countries to disasters caused by extreme natural events and the negative impacts of climate change.
The project also marks the implementation of One Health — an integrated, unifying approach to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment. “It is crucial because diseases don’t respect borders, whether geographical, species or ecological,” Dabbadie said, adding that One Health will help detect, prevent and respond to health threats like zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and transboundary animal diseases.
The Pandemic Fund aims to strengthen response to disease outbreaks especially in the most vulnerable countries. More than just a funding mechanism, Dabbadie said it provided governments with a crucial opportunity to institutionalize and sustain their efforts towards building long-term pandemic resilience and health security.
The FAO official also called for strengthened efforts to integrate One Health principles and the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030 across all levels.
He urged strong collaboration and more innovative funding to face evolving threats to human, animal and environmental health.
“The success of this project shows what is possible when we act collectively, but the real test will be our ability to sustain and expand this progress for generations to come, leaving no one behind,” Dabbadie said.
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