The Republic of the Philippines consists of some 7,100 islands. The total land area of the Philippines is approximately 300,000 square kilometres. The capital of the Philippines is Manila.
For the year ending September 2004, the Philippine pharmaceutical market posted an impressive growth rate of 13.7%, significantly higher than the 8.5% growth achieved in the previous year. However, despite strong GDP growth, the operating environment was difficult in view of the declining peso and its impact on manufacturers (even the locals) who import all
their raw materials.
The health system in the Philippines comprises a mixture of public and private healthcare providers, with most of the private facilities located within Metro Manila. Coverage of the National Health Insurance Programme (NHIP) is being expanded. However, the population still relies on private out-of-pocket spending for much of healthcare provision and most of their pharmaceutical purchases. The private sector funds about 55% of healthcare and there are essentially many more private hospitals than public ones.
The priorities of the government with respect to healthcare are reflected in the area of healthcare spending, which remains well below international norms. Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the Philippines spent just 3.3% of its GDP on healthcare, and is incidentally, the country with the lowest proportion of total government spending allocated to health among any of the Asian countries.
