‘Kaagapay: Protect Our Healthcare Heroes’ Aims To Raise Over P100 Million To Provide Medical Equipment To Hospitals Across Metro Manila

Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Zuellig Pharma, ABS-CBN, Metro Drug, and Go Negosyo have banded together for the initiative

Metro.Style Team

April 3, 2020, 07:06 PM

With the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the private sector have banded together to help bring immediate aid to healthcare professionals and hospitals that are front and center in fighting the spread of COVID-19.

The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), Zuellig Pharma, ABS-CBN, Metro Drug, and Go Negosyo launched the Kaagapay: Protect our Healthcare Heroes project, a fundraising initiative that aims to raise over P100 million to provide much needed medical equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators for hospitals across Metro Manila.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

“Franklin Roosevelt said that ‘courage is not the absence of fear but the assessment that there is something more important than fear.’ Our medical frontliners demonstrate this every day they are at work saving lives while putting their own at risk. Let us support these heroes in any way we can,” said PLDT/Smart Communications Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“Just as the business community has banded together to feed the economically-vulnerable, we are also working in concert to support our healthcare frontliners with PPEs, test kits, and medical supplies through this project,” said Ayala Corporation Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

The Philippines is facing a medical equipment shortage due to the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country. This puts the lives of frontliners at risk. Kaagapay seeks to address this need by utilizing pooled procurement mechanisms and supply chain processes in providing at least 50 ventilators and 30,000 PPEs for the healthcare sector. The initiative, which began its initial run last 31 March, will include test kits and other life-saving medical equipment as well.

“Project Kaagapay is an opportunity for us as a nation to rally together and show our support to our healthcare heroes and patients in their fight against COVID-19. By pooling our donations as a whole community, we can provide timely access of critical equipment to those who need them most. Join us in this fight and together make a difference and save precious lives,” said Zuellig Pharma Corporation Chairman Raymund Azurin.