23 FEBRUARY 2021, MANILA—The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF)’s Project K3 was recognized by the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) in its key agreements during its 18th Cluster Meeting. The Head of the Response Cluster, Leopoldo Vega, MD., acknowledged the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors in combating the pandemic. 

Vega added that Project K3 or the Kalinga para sa Kalusugan ng Komunidad is a good example of a private sector initiative for capacity building, risk communication, and course development. The members of the task force expressed their readiness to collaborate on this project.

Project K3 is already collaborating with the “Ingat Angat” campaign and the Department of Health (DOH) Promotions Bureau in the national communication plan to better inform the public about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines as well as the need to continue observing health and safety protocols. The project is also working to integrate DOH’s existing playbooks on vaccine education with PDRF’s e-learning platform—iADAPT—while also leveraging PDRF’s extensive community network to develop a grassroots approach to risk education in order to disseminate vital information to communities at the barangay level.

PDRF, through Taskforce T3 (Test, Trace, Treat), has been already working closely with the national government since the beginning of its COVID-19 response, from the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), medical supplies, and testing kits, to the implementation of the National Vaccine Roadmap.

Project K3 is an initiative of PDRF and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme that aims to strengthen the health care capacities of local government units, health care institutions, and local communities across the country to address COVID-19 immediate and future needs. The project’s three main targets are (1) Training 10,000 local healthcare system stakeholders (representatives from local government units (LGUs), healthcare institutions, and community/people’s organizations); (2) Distributing 5,000 sets of PPE to selected healthcare facilities; and (3) Facilitating risk communications and community education through the distribution of localized information, education, communication materials.

Among the project’s upcoming activities is a customized online mentorship program geared towards equipping LGUs and health facilities with knowledge and skills on public service continuity and a series of webinars in partnership with Brown University in the US, focusing on vaccine rollout and health resilience.