The Marcos administration’s Department of Health has set concrete health outcome targets it must achieve by 2028: lower stunting rates among Filipino children, higher immunization rates, reduced tuberculosis cases, contained HIV infections, and a shift toward healthier lifestyles to address rising hypertension and diabetes, DOH Undersecretary Gloria Balboa said Saturday.
Balboa outlined the targets in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on August 22, as part of the DZRH SONA 2026 Series featuring the Department of Health and PhilHealth.
She said the Universal Health Care Act serves as the DOH’s guiding framework, and that the department must show measurable progress on these health outcome indicators before the Marcos administration ends in 2028.
“Unang-una yung Universal Health Care, kailangan talagang may katuparan ‘yun. Ito yung bible ng DOH. Meron po tayong mga health outcome indicators na kailangan makita. Like for example, yung ating stunting rate, kailangan maibaba kasi medyo marami tayong mga malnourished, stunted children. Tapos yung immunization rate, kailangan nating maitaas ‘yun para bumaba yung mga vaccine-preventable diseases,” Balboa said.
She said TB cases must be brought down, citing the Philippines’ persistently high tuberculosis burden as a public health challenge that remains unresolved despite decades of effort.
HIV is also on the target list, with Balboa saying containment of new infections is critical given the rising trend of HIV cases in the Philippines over recent years.
She said the non-communicable diseases—hypertension and diabetes—are also key targets, with the DOH needing to show that its health promotion and prevention programs are changing the lifestyle behaviors that drive these conditions.
Health Secretary Edwin Mercado said the DOH’s approach is to address all these health burdens simultaneously through the five pillars of the Unified National Agenda for Health, using the Yakap primary care program as the front line for early detection, screening, and treatment of both communicable and lifestyle diseases.
