United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Yong Kim has assured continuous involvement of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in working with the city government on health-related issues.
Kim was in the city to visit some health-related entities. Among those he visited were the Borkenshire Hospital and the Teen Center, both in Barangay 8-A, Poblacion District.
The US envoy said the role of health workers is “incredibly important so I am very proud that USAID is supporting some of their efforts and we hope that we can continue that partnership.”
“I am very impressed by the dedication and commitment of the staff and the volunteers. They are deeply committed to everything possible to support and help teenagers in need,” Kim said.
He said USAID has been involved with a full range of health-related projects all throughout the country and have already established “very productive programs here in the Philippines.”
Also, USAID eyes on partnering with the local agencies to work against tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) that are among the concerning health issues in the country. From the data of the Department of Health (DOH), it said 60 Filipinos die from TB everyday. For HIV, as many as 32 people test positive everyday in 2018 according to Philippine National AIDS Council.
“I don’t have any specific announcement to make but I can assure you that the US government is considering to look for ways to support Philippine’s effort to some of the big health challenges including tuberculosis and HIV,” he added.
