Public health experts, government officials, and frontline physicians gathered at the 2025 Public Health Convention (PHCON) on September 12–13 at The Heritage Hotel Manila, tackling how to sustain reforms as new national data revealed both gains and gaps.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), total health expenditure surged to ₱1.56 trillion in 2024, a 17.1% increase from the previous year, with households still covering 42.7% of costs through out-of-pocket payments.
Meanwhile, zero-dose children or those who had never received a vaccine, dropped sharply from about one million in 2020–2021 to 163,000 in 2023, reflecting intensified catch-up efforts led by the Department of Health (DOH) in partnership with UNICEF and WHO.
Provisional PSA data also show that ischemic heart disease, cancers, and stroke remained the country’s leading causes of death in 2024, underscoring the urgency of prevention and stronger primary care.
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A Convention Framed Around “Hibla at Habi”
Organized by the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians (PSPHP), PHCON 2025 carried the theme “Hibla at Habi: Weaving a Responsive Health System.” Plenary and breakout sessions spanned urban design and health, UHC implementation, health financing, workforce, and climate-resilient service delivery, a cross-cutting agenda designed to stitch policy with practice and community realities.
The convention’s objective was to bring together professionals, policymakers, and stakeholders to share evidence and strategies for building a more equitable and resilient system.
It emphasized four goals: highlighting interdependence across sectors; fostering dialogue between national policy and local implementation; showcasing local innovations such as micro-planning for immunization and team-based care for NCDs; and creating a collaborative platform for aligning reforms.
The “weave” metaphor resonated because it mirrored real-world challenges. Universal Health Care legislation provides the loom — financing, governance, and benefit packages—but the hibla (threads) are local: cold-chain reliability in flood-prone barangays, hypertension control at rural health units, trust in vaccination campaigns, and interoperable data that follow patients.
According to a 2025 scoping review by De Guzman et al., climate-health research in the Philippines has grown, focusing on institutional adaptation, gendered vulnerabilities, and mental health, though long-term surveillance remains weak outside Luzon.
Similarly, a 2024 study in Iligan City (Velayo et al.) found high awareness of climate change and positive perceptions of nature-based solutions, but uneven knowledge across sectors. These findings reinforce the convention’s call to integrate climate resilience into routine health operations.
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The Spending Surge — and Why It Matters
PSA data confirm the health sector’s steep spending climb: from ₱1.33 trillion in 2023 to ₱1.56 trillion in 2024. Of this, ₱643.1 billion (44.7%) came from government schemes and compulsory contributions, while ₱615.2 billion (42.7%) came from households’ pockets. Per-capita spending rose by 17.6% to ₱12,751.
For the first time, PSA also tracked Primary Health Care Expenditure (PHCE), which reached ₱748.8 billion in 2024, 52% of current health spending and up 19.2% year-on-year. This new lens suggests a gradual shift toward first-contact, community-level services, though gaps in protection remain.
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Immunization: a Rebound, but the Finish Line is 95%
Reports from the DOH, UNICEF, and WHO show that the Philippines reduced its number of zero-dose children to 163,000 in 2023, a major turnaround. The 2024 reinstatement of the Bakuna Eskwela program further expanded school-based immunization, offering measles-rubella, tetanus-diphtheria, and HPV vaccines.
Nevertheless, national estimates show that only about 62% of eligible children were fully immunized by 12 months in 2023. Based on UNICEF, the finish line is still 95% coverage to ensure herd protection against outbreaks. Achieving this requires micro-planning, cold-chain reliability, and sustained local engagement.
NCD Reality Check: Who is Dying, and Why
In addition to these, the PSA’s 2024 Causes of Death report lists ischemic heart diseases, cancers, and stroke as the top killers. Meanwhile, a January 2025 discussion paper from the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) highlights that noncommunicable diseases account for eight of the ten leading causes of mortality.
Risk factors, tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, hypertension, and high blood sugar, are driving much of this burden.
Global research also aligns with this picture. The WHO Western Pacific Region report (2024) emphasizes that modifications in community and environmental risk exposures, such as active transport, salt reduction, and trans-fat elimination, could significantly alter NCD trajectories. In the Philippines, a national policy to eliminate industrially produced trans fats has already been enacted, illustrating how policy can complement clinical interventions.
TB Remains an Urgent Test of System Performance
According to the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2024, TB regained its grim place as the world’s leading infectious killer, with 8.2 million new diagnoses and about 1.25 million deaths in 2023. Treatment coverage for drug-resistant TB remained low, only 44% of MDR/RR-TB cases accessed treatment.
The Philippines continues to be among high-burden countries in the Western Pacific. Translating these figures into action means accelerating early detection, cutting diagnostic delays, and ensuring financing for newer all-oral regimens.
However, innovations are emerging. In April 2024, The Guardian reported on portable X-ray kits with AI-assisted triage used in a Manila borough clinic to shorten diagnostic timelines.
CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1: Coalition-Funded Catch-up in Region 12
According to a DOH–UNICEF–WHO joint release (Jan 30, 2025), Region 12 mobilized ₱70 million in investments for immunization under the National Immunization Acceleration Plan. The coalition, formalized as the SOCCSKSARGEN Regional Immunization Coalition (SRIC), aimed to close coverage gaps through micro-planning, logistics, and community mobilization. Yet DOH data show FIC coverage was only 64.3% in 2024, underscoring the distance to the 95% target.
Case Study 2: “Reaching Every Purok” (REP) in Region 3
The same joint release highlighted Region 3’s “Reaching Every Purok” (REP) initiative, a hyper-local strategy extending the “Reaching Every Barangay” model. While operational details are limited, REP was designed to bring vaccines to hard-to-reach sitios, making immunization targets more concrete and equitable. Partial FHSIS data in early 2025 showed that only 61% of children nationwide were fully immunized by 12 months, indicating the uphill climb to universal coverage.
Case Study 3: Primary-care Spending and the Hypertension Playbook
PSA data show that PHCE reached ₱748.8 billion in 2024, strengthening the case for first-contact services. While large-scale municipal programs combining CHWs, standardized protocols, and digital reminders are not yet fully documented, smaller trials offer promise. A Philippine RCT (2012–2013) found SMS reminders significantly improved blood pressure control. Globally, the American Heart Association (2023) reaffirmed that team-based care and standardized protocols are proven strategies for hypertension management.
What PHCON 2025 Clarified—and What Comes Next
- Spending is up, but protection remains uneven. PSA data show rising per-capita health spending, but out-of-pocket costs still expose households to financial risk.
- Immunization is recovering, but unfinished. Zero-dose reduction is encouraging, yet full coverage remains below the 95% safety threshold.
- NCDs dominate mortality. PSA and CPBRD data stress the need for prevention and policies that reduce lifestyle risks.
- TB is still a system stress test. WHO data underline global and national gaps in diagnosis and MDR-TB treatment coverage.
Practical To-Do’s Emerging From the Convention
- Budget the last mile. Micro-plans at barangay and purok levels, as used in Zamboanga Peninsula, proved effective for catch-up campaigns.
- Strengthen team-based NCD care. Evidence from the “Padayon” model and LMIC surveys shows digital reminders and standardized protocols improve hypertension control.
- Accelerate TB case-finding. Portable diagnostics and AI-assisted X-ray, as piloted in Manila, can shorten diagnostic delays.
- Build climate resilience into health services. Studies highlight the need for solar backups, flood-proof supply chains, and continuity drills to keep services running during climate shocks.
Why the “Weaving” Metaphor Sticks
Past health summits often highlighted isolated fixes — one new device, a siloed program, or another policy circular. PHCON 2025’s theme insisted on interdependence: financing that supports staff, urban design that lowers NCD risk, data that follow patients, and climate readiness that keeps vaccines viable.
According to official PHCON materials, this woven approach reflects the reality at the ground level.
And while it is too soon to measure results, the convention made one point clear: without coordinated policy, financing, and barangay-level logistics, Universal Health Care will remain a patchwork, fraying exactly where families need it most — at the health center, the school clinic, and the hospital cashier.
