Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Its location along the typhoon belt and the Pacific “Ring of Fire”—home to approximately 90% of the world’s earthquakes—puts the country at high risk for natural disasters and climate-sensitive diseases such as dengue, malaria, diarrhea and cholera. International Medical Corps has been active in the Philippines since November 2013, following Typhoon Haiyan, which affected approximately 16 million people.
Since then, we have responded to several major typhoons that hit the Philippines, including Super Typhoon Gaemi (2024), Typhoon Kristine (2024), Typhoon Wipha (2025), Tropical Cyclone Ragasa (2025), Typhoon Kalmaegi (2025) and Typhoon Fung Wong (2025). We responded to the 2025 earthquake in Cebu through rapid food-kit distribution, and to the 2022 earthquake in Abra, with rapid distributions of hygiene supplies, medical supplies and non-food items. We also responded to the Taal volcano eruption in 2020, supported the city of Manila during the polio outbreak of 2019, provided services in Laguna province during the dengue epidemic of 2019 and provided COVID-19 services throughout the country during the pandemic.
112.7 million
67/74
male / female
22 deaths
per 1,000 live births
The Challenges
Location
The Philippine islands are on the typhoon belt and the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” home to 90% of the world’s earthquakes.
Natural Disasters
Frequent typhoons and earthquakes increase the prevalence of infectious diseases.
Topography
It’s often very difficult to get supplies and resources to remote areas in this nation of islands.
Our Response
Disaster Preparedness and Response
International Medical Corps works with local departments of health to support typhoon-affected populations. For example, our teams have:
- distributed food packets, 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.
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; and
- provided logistical support to the polio immunization campaign in Manila.
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 (WASH)
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 for 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 Manila and Cavite, and distributed WASH materials—disinfectant, detergent, washcloths, mops, buckets, coveralls, goggles and multipurpose gloves—to people in those health centers.
Were There: Typhoon Kalmaegi (Tino)
Typhoon Kalmaegi hit the central provinces of the Philippines on November 2, 2025, resulting in more than 200 deaths and 100 missing people. The typhoon delivered a month’s worth of rain in one night, impacting more than 2 million people and compounding the impacts of recent earthquakes in Cebu. Our teams responded by distributing food kits and generators to ensure vital electricity supplies to local clinics.
We Were There: Super Typhoon Storm Fung Wong (Uwan)
On November 9, 2025, Severe Tropical Storm Fung Wong made landfall on Luzon Island, with devastatingly strong winds, displacing more than 1.4 million people, causing 10 deaths and damaging thousands of homes. Our teams responded by distributing food kits to affected communities.
We Were There: Cebu Earthquake
On September 30, 2025, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Cebu, damaging infrastructure, displacing more than 20,000 people and causing 72 deaths. In response, we reached more than 700 households by distributing food kits.