Chronic/NCDs Bill Brieger | 20 Apr 2025
Hypertension in the Philippines
As part of the work for the Johns Hopkins University course on Social and Behavioral Foundations of Primary Health Care, Bea Manjon posted in the class blog about the threat of hypertension to people and the health system in the Philippines as seen below.
Image above from BDA.uk.com stresses the importance of screening hypertension.
Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death and medical complications in the Philippines. 69.1% of older Filipinos have hypertension, and about half of them are untreated. Hypertension causes a lot of economic burdens on the general public and on healthcare systems when people cannot afford to treat their hypertension or associated medical complications. Many medications can be used to control hypertension and prevent complications, but the National Health Insurance Program (PhilHealth) does not cover outpatient and long-term healthcare. Changing PhilHealth’s policies to cover maintenance medications would require a larger scope of coverage, but it could prevent more disease and expenses in the long term. Enacting a policy to help cover hypertension medications would greatly benefit Filipinos.
Several Stakeholders could play an active or a supportive role in controlling this problem. The Philippines Department of Health has established a program called the Philippines Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions. The program aims to decrease the prevalence of hypertension to 33% as recommended by the World Health Organization. PhilHealth mainly covers inpatient expenses and does not cover many outpatient or primary care expenses.
Philippine Society for Hypertension (PSH) encourages the regular use of hypertension medication in addition to eating a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle. The Barangay Health Centers are based in Barangays which are local governments with a health center that dispenses free basic medication, including hypertension medication. Finally, Government Hospitals make a lot of money from charging poor patients a large amount for medication and could consider how this affects life-saving care..
Proposed Action starts with the Philippines Department of Health must advocate for the prevention of non-communicable diseases. They can explain how important it is for the prevalence of hypertension to decrease, and their position in the government can influence policymakers. Collaborations may also be done with PhilHealth and the PSH to explain how important maintenance medications are in preventing major health problems. Government hospitals must also be prevented from charging poor patients extreme amounts for basic medications. Insurance companies can help control and negotiate prices if the medication is covered by insurance. The Philippines DOH, PhilHealth, and the PSH must advocate for the enactment of a policy to cover hypertension medications to better the health of the Filipino people.