Manila, Aug. 10 -- The Philippines has secured a USD600-million (around PHP36.95 billion) grant from the United States to expand access to quality healthcare and boost resilience against public health threats.

Under the newly signed Strategic Objective Agreement (SOAG) for Integrated and Sustainable Health Systems in the Philippines, the Department of Health will use the funding to upgrade medical delivery, bolster defenses against outbreak threats and strengthen national health security, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement Monday.

Beyond immediate outbreak response, the DOF said the bilateral agreement also focuses on integrating medical services across existing disease programs, and boosting the capacity to finance an...