State of Philippines health care

The country’s largest aggrupations of medical and health practitioners have banded together in support of retaining Dr. Teodoro Herbosa as secretary of the Department of Health.

In a statement, the Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine Hospital Association, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines and the Philippine College of Hospital Administrators cited Herbosa’s commitment, expertise and leadership as having been instrumental in driving progress and improving healthcare outcomes in the country.

In their open letter to President Marcos, they said that Herbosa’s commitment to strengthening the country’s health care system, to promoting public health initiatives, and to addressing health challenges has earned him recognition and respect from various stakeholders, both local and international, “more so when the flag of the Philippines became visible in the world map as he was elected president of the 78th World Health Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland.”

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs in its website, Herbosa’s presidency of the 78th World Assembly marked a historic first for the Philippines as this is the first time that a Filipino has been elected to preside over the assembly since the World Health Organization was founded in 1948. This, it said, reflects the country’s growing leadership and influence in global health diplomacy.

The four groups also pointed that in his eight-point agenda for health Philippines, Herbosa emphasized his priorities in promoting public health initiatives, implementing programs that prevent diseases, promote healthy lifestyles and protect vulnerable populations, even as he prepared the department in addressing health challenges in responding to emerging health issues such as pandemics and outbreaks.

They said that they have been working and collaborating with Herbosa since his appointment and the core objectives of his agenda are well aligned with the programs and activities of these four principal and frontline health service providers for the Filipino people.

What is the state of the Philippine health care system?

In 2017, the country ranked 60th out of 191 countries in the WHO’s ranking of the world’s health system. It also ranked 120th out of 195 countries because of poor access to and quality of health care for the cure of diseases that can easily be prevented, according to a study written by B. Kritz published in the Manila Times.

According to the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank, in it’s Legatum Prosperity Index 2023 that included a Health Pillar that ranks 167 countries based on the overall health of their societies and the accessibility of tools to maintain health, including health care services, the Philippines ranked 96th. The best health care provider in the world is Singapore, followed by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.

But Global Relocate’s Healthcare Ranking of countries in 2025 put the Philippines at 42nd place out of 94. This was even better than Hong Kong which was at 43rd, Indonesia at 55th and Vietnam at 59th. The top five spots went to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Netherlands and Denmark. Thailand was 9th in the ranking, Singapore at 23rd, Malaysia at 29th, the United States at 32nd and China at 37th.

Meanwhile, the 2024 edition of the CEOWorld magazine Health Care Index ranked the Philippines at 87th out of 110 countries. Taiwan still topped the list while Singapore was 14th, the US 15th, Hongkong 23rd, Indonesia 39th, China 46th, Thailand 83rd, Malaysia 88th, Vietnam 89th and Myanmar 98th

The health ranking reflects the quality of health care and access to health services and includes other factors like life expectancy, access to medical services, healthcare funding, and technologies.

Statista in a report noted however that thanks to the Universal Health Care Act of 2019, Filipinos are now automatically enrolled in a National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) administered by PhilHealth. The UHC resulted in an increased public spending on health, from less than five percent to about six percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2023.

With an average life expectancy of 72 years, the report said that the Philippines ranked sixth in Southeast Asia when it comes to life expectancies at birth in 2023. The current health care approach, it emphasized, leans more toward curative rather than preventive care, with spending on preventive care accounting for just four percent of the current health expenditure share in 2023.

Before the implementation of the universal health care law, it stated that Filipino households used to cover more than half of their health expenses out-of-pocket, which was a significant burden to low-income families. In 2022, more than half of the registered deaths in the Philippines were unattended by a healthcare provider.

A Channel News Asia report likewise revealed that as of 2022, only 21 percent of Philippine provinces had adequate primary care facilities based on DOH data. The plan is to build 28 primary and urgent care multi-specialty centers, dubbed BUCAS, by 2028 which are designed for the 28 million poorest Filipinos.

Meanwhile, essential medicines in the Philippines cost at least three times more than international prices, according to the DOH, the report added. About 75 percent of out-of-pocket health spending for the poorest Filipinos, and 58 percent for the richest, goes to medicine, the WHO revealed.

The Philippines still has a long way to go in terms of public health infrastructure, medicine availability and cost, availability of healthcare professionals especially in rural and poor areas, government readiness in terms of health emergencies but our country’s top medical associations believe that Herbosa is still the right person for the job.

Our health care system is in a fragile state and we cannot let politics get in the way of progress.

For comments, email at [email protected]