Unilab Foundation launched the Unilab Center for Health Policy, a venue for stakeholders to examine health policy issues.

“UCHP is intended to provide a platform for policymakers, the private sector, implementers and other concerned stakeholders — at the national and local levels — to discuss, distill, and dissect health policy issues,” Unilab Foundation president Clinton Campos Hess said.

With a fragmented healthcare landscape, it is said that the Philippines grapples with obstacles that hinder the upliftment of marginalized Filipinos. Out-of-pocket expenses, uneven distribution of human resources and limited access are among the persistent challenges that the newly established UCHP aims to tackle.

Recognizing the monumental task of achieving universal health care, UCHP emphasizes a collective responsibility shared by the government and private sectors.

Care system nourished

“UCHP does not presume that it can help solve all the issues at hand. It is a modest attempt to bring together like-minded individuals and institutions desirous of nourishing our nation’s health care system. It is premised on government and the private sector working together,” Campos Hess explained.

 “UCHP seeks to spawn ideas anchored on research and grounded on experience. Such an approach will help forge the appropriate interventions to the exigent health concerns of access, equity, quality, service delivery, UHC implementation, and the interphase of health with technology,” he added.

UCHP has an Advisory Council, which will aid in crafting policy agendas and ensuring meticulous oversight of project implementation.