Stronger systems for healthy hearts in the Philippines

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects one in three adults in the Philippines. This means 16.8 million adults are living with a condition that significantly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death. Yet until recently, only 19% of people with hypertension had their condition under control. While the country’s devolved health system provides opportunities for local governments to tailor services to local needs, several factors can affect how programmes are implemented at scale. Local capacity to address hypertension remains uneven, and for a condition that depends on steady, long-term care, this often means patients miss diagnosis, drop out of treatment, or face serious complications later. 

^{Western Visayas strengthens community health with the Health Hearts Programme to fight cardiovascular diseases.
>Credit: Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development} 

The Department of Health (DOH), with support from WHO Philippines and Resolve to Save Lives, is embedding hypertension care into routine primary health services through the Healthy Hearts Philippines (HHP) Programme launched in 2018. The programme makes hypertension treatment consistent in quality, affordable to patients, and anchored in digital registries for monitoring outcomes. The programme was designed with local governments and empowers provinces and municipalities to adapt the model, commit resources, and sustain implementation over time. 

The HHP Programme has helped ensure a unified standard of care within participating local health systems. Where it has been implemented, standard protocols and clinically validated blood pressure devices have helped to improve diagnosis, while a digital registry has helped health workers track patients between visits. With training for more than 1,400 doctors, nurses and midwives, it has helped expand clinical capacity, and enabled barangay health workers to bring blood pressure monitoring and medicines closer to communities. At the same time, PhilHealth’s Konsulta package has provided financing for medicines and diagnostics and shifted the burden of medical-related costs from patients to the public system. The programme provides strong evidence that chronic care can be part of primary health care. 

Expanding access across Western Visayas 

The first pilot in Iloilo Province in 2021 showed how much of a difference this can make. Across seven municipalities, 25,000 adults enrolled in hypertension care and 80% brought their blood pressure under control—far higher than national or global rates. These outcomes helped make the case to expand the Healthy Hearts Programme to the wider regions of Western Visayas and Cagayan Valley.  

^{Guimaras leaders, together with WHO and partners, pledge collective action for stronger heart health in the province.
Credit: Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development} 

Today, the HHP Programme runs in 194 local governments across Western Visayas and Cagayan Valley and is expected to reach 5.3 million adults. More than 139,000 patients are enrolled and nearly two-thirds are managing their blood pressure, more than triple the national baseline.

What comes next 

From a modest start in Western Visayas, Healthy Hearts has become the Philippines’ strongest proof that hypertension can be managed at scale through primary health care.   Extending these results so that Filipinos everywhere can benefit means ensuring sustainable financing for medicines, consistent supply chains, trained health workers, and coordination across all levels of government. 

Globally, even the strongest health systems keep blood pressure controlled in fewer than half of patients with hypertension.  The progress achieved in Western Visayas shows that scaling up is possible when hypertension care is integrated into primary health services. WHO will continue working with the Department of Health, local governments, and partners to make this standard of life-saving care available for all. 

Learn more in the WHO Global Report on Hypertension 2025 and see how countries worldwide are stepping up action for heart health.