Philippines

Disaster Preparedness and Response

International Medical Corps works with local departments of health to support disaster-affected populations.

For example, our teams have:

• distributed food packs, hygiene supplies and non-food items to replace items lost in a disaster;
• provided diesel generators or solar power to health facilities to ensure proper cold chain and continuity of health services, even during power outages;
• trained staff on disaster risk reduction and the incident command system;
• offered training-of-trainers schooling to health staff about basic life support;
• trained volunteers about basic life support and first aid; and
• trained health workers in advanced cardiac life support.

In addition, we have collaborated with the Eastern Visayas Santa Regional Health Office to train trainers in basic life support, reaching Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office staff from all the cities and provinces of Eastern Visayas.

Lastly, to ensure cold chain integrity and continued health services during and after disasters in flood-prone and power-intermittent areas in Bulacan and Sarangani, diesel generators and solar lamps were donated to primary and tertiary health facilities.

Health

We work to strengthen essential health facilities and prepare the health system for future disasters by restocking medicine, supplies and equipment, and training doctors and nurses working in rural health units about disaster-response medicine.

For example, our teams have:

• provided cold-chain support, staff and transportation for several immunization campaigns, including measles and encephalitis campaigns in Benguet province;
• extended logistical support to the Laguna Provincial Hospital-Nagcarlan District Hospital during the 2019 dengue epidemic;
• provided logistical support to the polio immunization campaign in Manila;
• prepositioned medicines and medical supplies to local health facilities in Albay and Bulacan; and
• conducted medical missions in flood-stricken communities in Bulacan.

As part of our COVID-19 response, our teams trained more than 400 health workers and community volunteers on infection prevention and control.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are among the most urgently needed interventions after typhoons and earthquakes, which cause large-scale infrastructure damage, threaten the health of vulnerable communities and particularly put children at risk of contracting communicable diseases. In response, we focus on ensuring water supply and hygiene in at-risk schools.

For example, our teams have:

• rehabilitated WASH systems at 95 schools;
• provided hygiene training to 130 schools;
• trained more than 1,000 teachers on proper hygiene practices;
• trained hundreds of students and teachers to act as hygiene champions and train others; and
• distributed thousands of hygiene kits.

Since 2018, our teams have responded to several natural disasters, providing water-survival and hygiene kits to hundreds of households throughout the country. We rehabilitate toilets in evacuation centers and construct laundry facilities where needed.

In response to COVID-19, we installed handwashing facilities in health centers throughout Cavite and Manila and distributed WASH materials—disinfectant, detergent, washcloths, mops, buckets, coveralls, goggles and multipurpose gloves—to people in those health centers.

In 2026, our teams distributed 210 hygiene kits in communities evacuated from the danger zone around the Mayon Volcano. According to government reports, these communities have been staying in evacuation centers since January 2026 due to Mayon’s effusive eruption. Additionally, in response to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Mindanao region, our team distributed 200 hygiene kits to families staying in evacuation centers in Glan district, Sarangani province.