The benefits of economic growth in the Philippines are slowly starting to trickle down to the poorest in society via a more inclusive and affordable healthcare system. Access to healthcare information is also improving, allowing Filipinos to better understand their health.
“Better informed patients make better patients.”
You can see growth everywhere you look across the Metro Manila landscape; construction cranes rivaling in number the already completed skyscrapers. The country is experiencing tremendous progress, with a projected rise in GDP of seven percent in 2016, something that will no doubt positively impact the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the Philippines.
To make the economic growth that is currently being seen here more inclusive, the poor need to benefit, especially in terms of increasing access to health services and working towards universal healthcare. This is something that Teodoro Padilla, Executive Director of the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Association of the Philippines makes clear; “The “sin tax” on alcohol and tobacco has created considerable funds for PhilHealth, and President Duterte has also said that if this is not sufficient we need to find additional funding as well.” Comments such as this highlight how the Philippines is working to capitalize on the country’s continuously improving economic state to make investments that will sustain growth in the future, and for this there must be a focus on expanding access to high-quality and affordable healthcare in the country.
With the growing relevance and importance of the healthcare and life science industry in the country we have also seen the public becoming more engaged in their healthcare decisions. Noel Lantin, CEO of Medicomm Pacific, a company which provides healthcare information to the Filipino population and healthcare community, describes how their services are aiding the efforts to expand and improve the healthcare services available to the country with the phrase, “Better informed patients make better patients.”
What is clear is that, with the country’s burgeoning population and rapidly growing economy, the future is bright for the Philippines. How companies in the healthcare and life science sector support and benefit from this growth will continue to be something that is exciting to watch.
Writer: Brandon Mourich
