Alternative Budget for health Initiative (ABI-HEALTH)
While calling for the cancellation of the incinerator loan, HCWH-AP proposes the redirection of debt payments to fund the improvement of local health services instead. These efforts are being made in partnership with concerned groups, and are aligned with the country’s Millennium Development Goals.
In recognition of the campaign, the Philippine congress withheld interest payments for the incinerator loan in the 2008 national budget. Furthermore, it appropriated an additional Php 100 million (about USD 2 million) for the DOH to purchase autoclaves for the disinfection of medical waste.tors. See the report, Toxic Debt: The Onerous Austrian Legacy of Medical Waste in the Philippines.