Health and nutrition
We help create a nation where every mother, newborn, and child can survive and thrive.
The current state
Despite having strong macroeconomic foundations and a solid policy environment, the Philippines is beleaguered by slow progress in health and nutrition.
The last decade has seen challenges in the delivery of services, particularly in primary health care for adolescents, pregnant women, newborn, and children as well as in resolving the triple burden of childhood malnutrition—stunting and wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity—that has remained prevalent. The country is also currently off-track in meeting the SDG 2030 on maternal and neonatal deaths. It also has the second-highest rate of adolescent pregnancies among ASEAN nations.
26.7 per cent of children under 5 years old are stunted and some regions have more, like Bangsamoro Region at 39 per cent
An estimated 672,000 children suffer from wasting with about 50 per cent under the age of 2 years
23 per cent of pregnant women are anemic, leading to low birthweight and pre-term delivery
Childhood overweight and obesity are rapidly increasing, and have tripled since 2003.
All data sources can be found at Situation of Children Philippines, unless otherwise noted.
Our goal, our commitment
Health and nutrition are the bedrock of children’s survival and development. A robust and accessible health and nutrition system paves the way for children to have a fair chance in life—to survive, thrive, and become productive members of society. Only by investing in improving healthcare for the next generation can the Philippines hope to capitalize on its demographic dividend—the youth of tomorrow.
There is much work to be done that requires a united front from all sectors in the country—from the national and local governments and healthcare practitioners, the business and private sectors, to parents and children themselves. UNICEF is in a key position to make this happen and strengthen the health system so that all children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age can access affordable, sustainable, and quality preventive, promotive, and curative health care.
Our work, our initiatives
While treatment is necessary, the heart of UNICEF’s work is prevention. We ensure the Philippines has an efficient and structured primary healthcare system—from policymaking to implementation, early detection to procurement and delivery of essential supplies, data recording and monitoring to consumer education.
Our efforts capture the interactions and interconnections between and among five systems—food, health, water and sanitation, education, and social protection—all of which affect overall health and nutrition in the country.
Here are our key efforts in nutrition:
- Influencing legislative advocacy to create, monitor and enforce regulations restricting the marketing of breastmilk substitutes and unhealthy food and beverages
- Supporting government policy, particularly a national framework to improve access to optimal diets, services and practices.
- Strengthening systems, especially in integrating the supply chain
- Supporting recruitment, retention and capacity building of healthcare and nutrition providers
- Generating research, data and evidence
- Promoting social and behavioral change
Here are our key efforts in health:
- Ensuring the primary healthcare system can provide one-stop-shop services for children with strong health information management systems, supply chain management, and health governance at all levels.
- Supporting partner and consumer advocacy
- Strengthen government capacity for evidence-based planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring of cost-effective, high-impact health interventions, such as immunization
- Improving quality of care, including supporting state-of-the-art health training institutions, development of alternative service delivery models and maternal and child health in emergencies
- Engaging, educating, and empowering communities to ensure the applicability and sustainability of programmes
- Promoting social and behaviour change and establishing accountability