Medical innovation only matters if it actually reaches patients. Yet for many Filipinos, access to essential and innovative medicines remains constrained by financial, regulatory, and logistical barriers. A medicine may be approved for use, but if it is unavailable in their communities, or if healthcare financing does not cover its cost, the promise of medical innovation remains unfulfilled.
Medicine access cannot depend indefinitely on temporary programs, one-time funding, or a patient’s ability to seek financial assistance. It must become a dependable part of a healthcare system that serves every Filipino. Achieving this requires sustained public-private collaboration built on mutual trust, transparency, shared accountability, and a genuine commitment to improving patients’ lives.
This was the central message of the recent Health for Juan and Juana (HJJ) Forum, themed “Breaking Barriers to Medicine Access: Kalusugang Abot-Kamay nina Juan at Juana,” organized by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) as part of its 80th anniversary celebration.
The forum brought together government officials, the diplomatic corps, healthcare professionals, patient organizations, industry representatives, and other stakeholders to identify practical solutions to longstanding barriers to medicine access.
PHAP President Dr. Diana Edralin expressed the innovative biopharmaceutical industry’s full support for the Department of Health’s (DoH) Unified National Agenda for Health, or UNA Para sa Kalusugan, and outlined three priority areas where public-private collaboration can make a meaningful difference.
The first is improving medicine affordability and healthcare financing.
PHAP is committed to supporting the expansion of the PhilHealth GAMOT Program, advocating regular updates to the Philippine National Drug Formulary, and working toward broader PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) benefits that cover more essential and innovative treatments.
Access to medicines involves an interconnected process. Regulatory approval must be followed by timely health technology assessment, formulary inclusion, appropriate financing, procurement, and actual delivery to patients.
When any part of this process encounters delays, patients bear the consequences. For someone undergoing cancer treatment, delayed access to a needed medicine can mean disease progression and missed opportunities for better outcomes. For families managing chronic illnesses, prescriptions that are not subsidized can lead to interrupted treatment and worsening health.
The second priority is ensuring reliable medicine availability through stronger procurement and supply chain systems.
Recent global disruptions have demonstrated the vulnerability of pharmaceutical supply chains to geopolitical tensions, transportation challenges, and manufacturing constraints.
PHAP supports closer collaboration with government on demand forecasting, timely procurement, and supply chain planning to strengthen medicine and vaccine availability, particularly in provincial communities and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
This collaboration should also strengthen hospital services and healthcare financing so that medicines reach patients consistently, rather than becoming available only after shortages or supply disruptions occur.
The third priority is improving regulatory efficiency while maintaining the highest standards of medicine quality, safety, and efficacy.
PHAP remains committed to working closely with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to facilitate timely access to safe, effective, affordable, and quality medicines.
For patients with cancer, rare diseases, and other serious conditions, unnecessary regulatory delays can have life-changing consequences. Efficient, science-based regulatory processes, appropriate reliance on trusted regulatory authorities, and transparent health technology assessments can help accelerate access without compromising patient safety.
“We should aspire to a Philippine health system where safe and effective innovations are evaluated efficiently; regulatory and Health Technology Assessment processes are increasingly aligned with global best practices; and real-world evidence helps guide decisions throughout the lifecycle of a medicine,” Dr. Edralin said.
These commitments complement the government’s UNA Para sa Kalusugan, which identifies five interconnected priorities: healthy schools, workplaces, and communities; a functional primary healthcare system; quality and efficient hospitals; information technology transformation; and stronger health institutions, workforce, and sector.
Health Secretary Dr. Edwin Mercado, whose special message was delivered by FDA Officer-in-Charge Director General Franklin Anthony Tabaquin, emphasized the importance of making healthcare services more accessible and financially sustainable.
“Our goal is to build a healthcare system where patients can move from consultation to diagnosis and treatment without unnecessary difficulties or financial burden,” he said.
Realizing this vision requires recognizing that no single institution can overcome the barriers to medicine access alone. Government provides policy direction, financing, and regulation. The pharmaceutical industry contributes scientific innovation, technical expertise, and supply chain capabilities. Healthcare professionals deliver appropriate treatment, while patient organizations provide invaluable perspectives on the realities of accessing care.
Meaningful collaboration, however, must extend beyond dialogue and declarations of support. It requires clear responsibilities, measurable targets, realistic timelines, and accountability for results. Partnerships must ultimately be judged by whether they reduce delays, improve medicine availability, and ease the financial burden on patients.
As PHAP enters its ninth decade, it remains committed to being a trusted partner and a collective force for progress in building a more accessible, responsive, and sustainable healthcare system.
The challenge now is to translate shared commitments into sustained action, ensuring that access to medicines is not determined by geography, income, or circumstance.
Ultimately, the true measure of progress is not simply how many medicines are developed, but how many Filipino lives are improved and saved.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines, which represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of developing, investing and delivering innovative medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics for Filipinos to live healthier and more productive lives.