Baguio City, PHAP ink pioneering MOU to help ensure medicine access under UHC framework

On the occasion of the global celebration of Universal Health Coverage Day, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) to help accelerate the implementation of access to medicines under a Universal Health Care (UHC) framework.

Each year on December 12, the UHC Day marks the date to call on leaders to make smarter investments and accelerate towards “Health for All.” With this year’s theme “Build the World We Want: A Healthy Future for All,” the UHC Day amplifies the call for greater access to quality services without financial hardship.

“Health is a priority agenda for Baguio City. It is one of our primordial concerns. This MOU signing with PHAP will take us one step closer to realizing better health for all people living in the city. As the pilot city for this novel partnership, we are very committed to it. Every time we see innovation, we want to be pioneering it,” Mayor Magalong said during the MOA signing held at the Baguio Convention Center.

Under the MOU, Baguio City will be the pilot site for the first UHC Blueprint on Access to Medicines Project, a partnership designed to accelerate the implementation of access to medicines in local government units. The MOU signing was witnessed by PHAP Vice President and Zuellig Pharma Market Managing Director Jannette Jakosalem and Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO) President Karen Villanueva.

“We recognize that Baguio City is a leading innovation center in the country. The goal of this pilot program is to demonstrate that quality health care can be achieved through early screening and prevention, and access to innovative medicines enabled by public-private partnerships.

We believe that under Mayor Magalong’s leadership, we can develop and implement access to medicines and health-care programs that benefit the people living in Baguio City,” PHAP Executive Director Teodoro Padilla said.

PHAP represents the researchbased medicines and vaccines sector in the Philippines. Its members are in the forefront of discovery, manufacture and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, as well as for other diseases and conditions that impact Filipinos.

The MOU will set off a baseline study on the health needs of Baguio City residents, as well as commence discussions on the details of the project which has two components. The first component is the consolidation of PHAP Members’ health and medicine access programs. The second component, meanwhile, is composed of ecosystem building for a stronger healthcare system in the city.

“As we have seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to strengthen our health-care system and ensure that life-saving medicines and vaccines are available to the people. This MOU is an example of an innovative public-private partnership. We are working together with the private sector to find ways to make health care more accessible to everyone living in the City. As we do this, we are continuing our advocacy for good governance beyond politics,” Magalong said.

On February 20, 2019, Republic Act no. 11223 or the UHC Act was signed to implement major healthcare system reform. The law calls for a whole-of-systems, whole-ofgovernment and whole-of-society approach where “government agencies work across portfolio boundaries to develop integrated policies and programs towards the achievement of shared goals” and engage “all relevant stakeholders including the private sector and industry.”