Our Impact So Far

• Through UNICEF, our funding has helped support government efforts to assess gaps in cold chain storage capacity and develop a supply chain improvement plan together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Philippines’ Department of Health. Key improvements include the procurement of 8 walk-in cold rooms and respective personal protective equipment and 30 solar vaccine refrigerators. Training has been provided for 133 health workers to date across 12 regions on cold chain logistics and vaccine management. Australian support for additional cold chain equipment will enable 84 provinces and municipalities across 4 regions to be self-sufficient with respect to vaccine storage and distribution for COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunisation.

• Through WHO, our funding has provided technical support for vaccine rollout, management, real-time monitoring and operations support at the level of National Vaccination Operations Centres.

• Our funding has supported the Government of the Philippines government to increase demand for COVID-19 vaccination, particularly among vulnerable populations. Through UNICEF, risk communication and community engagement activities across the Philippines’ three most populated regions have facilitated access to vaccination and reduced vaccine hesitancy. More than 4 million people have been reached through these activities.

• More than 3,200 health workers have been trained in COVID-19 vaccination communications and responding to vaccine hesitancy.

• Through our Australian Expert Technical Assistance Program, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has undertaken technical exchanges on vaccine authorisation evaluation and pharmacovigilance, including with the Philippines Bureau of Epidemiology.

Read more:

• TGA puts COVID-19 vaccines through their paces

• Strengthening pharmacovigilance for COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines