316 GOe

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS FOR

eHEALTH

WHO WESTERN PACIFIC REGION Philippines

Enabling environment – policies and strategies to support the information society

The Philippines reports that almost half of the listed actions to promote

an enabling environment for information and communication

technologies (ICT) in the health sector have been implemented and

will be reviewed and continued over the next two years. The rest of

the listed actions should be introduced by 2008. The national ICT

policy is described as the most important action taken in this � eld. To

date, ICT projects are often funded by grants from donor agencies or

from special government budgets. Including these projects within the

regular government budget is considered a signi� cant challenge. A

priority activity is to develop a model framework that provides clear

strategies and direction to achieve desired goals and objectives in the

eHealth domain.Futu

re a

ctio

n

National information policy or strategy

National ePolicy or eStrategy

National eHealth policy or strategy

Procurement policies or strategies

Public funding

Private funding

Public-private partnerships

eHealth standards

Citizen protection

Multilingualism and cultural diversity

Equity

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

RC

RC

S

S

RC

RC

RC

S

S

S

S

Figure 1. Enabling environment for ICT in the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

Futu

re a

ctio

n

National information policy or strategy

National ePolicy or eStrategy

National eHealth policy or strategy

Procurement policies or strategies

Public funding

Private funding

Public-private partnerships

eHealth standards

Citizen protection

Multilingualism and cultural diversity

Equity

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

RC

RC

S

S

RC

RC

RC

S

S

S

S

Figure 1. Enabling environment for ICT in the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

Infrastructure – access to information and communication technologies

There are plans to implement a national plan for the development of ICT

in health and a national policy to reduce the costs of ICT infrastructure

for the health sector by 2008. The Philippines indicates that since

1985 it works with intersectoral and nongovernmental partners to

promote infrastructure development. This initiative will be reviewed

and continued over the next two years. The Multipurpose Community

Telecenter (MCT) (http://www.barangayconnect.ph), which provides

access to community information, including selected transcriptions in

the local dialect, and the use of cellular infrastructure to provide health

information are highlighted by the Philippines as a signi� cant initiative.

The most important initiatives are described as the introduction of the Internet by PHNet; the Philippine Research, Education

and Government Information Network (PREGINET), which advances the development of next-generation network technologies,

applications and services to make these technologies accessible and a� ordable to user communities; and the Short Messaging

System (SMS) with 25 million cellular service subscribers. The Department of Health has initiated a programme for answering health

queries by SMS from the general public. Insu� cient funds for the health sector remain a signi� cant challenge.

S

S

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

National ICT in health development plan

Intersectoral and nongovernmental

cooperation

Policy on a�ordability of infrastructure

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 2. ICT infrastructure development for the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

S

S

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

National ICT in health development plan

Intersectoral and nongovernmental

cooperation

Policy on a�ordability of infrastructure

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 2. ICT infrastructure development for the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

Cultural and linguistic diversity, and cultural identity

The listed actions have been introduced and will be reviewed and

continued. The Philippines notes the development of the Community

Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), which is designed for

government health centres to track and monitor patients. Of particular

importance is the embedded localization module that enables

translation into local languages. The University of the Philippines has a

project translating terms used in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) into

Filipino, the national language. The development of multilingual content

for advocacy poses a signi� cant challenge, as there are � ve major languages and more than one hundred dialects in the country.

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Translation and cultural adaptation

Multilingual projects

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 3. Electronic multicultural health content: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Translation and cultural adaptation

Multilingual projects

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 3. Electronic multicultural health content: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

© World Health Organization 2006

GOe 317

GLOBAL OBSERVATORY FOR eHEALTH

PHILIPPINES

Lege

nd

Future action

C To be continuedRC To be reviewed & continuedS To be startedP To be stoppedU Undecided0 No data / No action

Usefulness

5 Extremely useful 4 Very useful3 Moderately useful2 Slightly useful 1 Not useful0 No data

Not e�ectiveSlightly e�ectiveModerately e�ectiveVery e�ective

E�ectiveness

Extremely e�ective

Unknown e�ectiveness

No dataStart date unknown

Content – access to information and knowledge

All of the services listed to extend access to the community have been

introduced and are predicted to continue over the next two years.

Important actions are described to be the creation of the eHealth

portal (1995) as a virtual community for Philippine health research,

health care delivery, and health science and technology development;

the Department of Health web site (1997) providing a source of health

information for the general public; the development of the Philippine

eLibrary (2004), which links multidisciplinary libraries; and the online

public access catalogue (OPAC) (1991) of medical and health libraries.

The Health Research and Development Information Network (HERDIN)

(http://www.herdin.ph) (1985), a specialized network of documentation

and information centres engaged in health research and development

activities with a bibliographic information retrieval system for Philippine health research is also highlighted as an e� ective action in

this � eld. The Philippines highlights the need for translation of health information to local languages. The updating and maintenance

of databases are mentioned among the most signi� cant challenges.

RC

RC

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Access to international journals

Access to national journals

Health information for the general public

National open archive or repository policies

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 4. Online access to health content: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

RC

RC

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Access to international journals

Access to national journals

Health information for the general public

National open archive or repository policies

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 4. Online access to health content: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

Capacity – human resources knowledge and skills

All of the educational programmes listed in this area have been

introduced. The Philippines reports these actions to have been

slightly e� ective. They will be reviewed and continued. The recently

implemented telementoring and telehealth project, Buddy Works,

will enable access to health knowledge and expertise for those in

geographically remote areas. The Department of Health provides

continuing ICT training for health professionals; the courses ranging

from introductory courses to programming, as well as Internet and

specialized Geographical Information Systems instruction. The

migration of locally-trained health professionals, especially nurses with

training in ICT for health, to positions abroad is reported as the most

signi� cant challenge in this area.

RC

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Undergraduate or postgraduate

training on ICT

eLearning in health sciences

Continuing education on ICT

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 5. ICT capacity in the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

RC

RC

RC

Futu

re a

ctio

n

Undergraduate or postgraduate

training on ICT

eLearning in health sciences

Continuing education on ICT

Year< 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 >

Figure 5. ICT capacity in the health sector: actions taken or planned within 2 years and their e� ectiveness rating

eHealth tools and eHealth services

All of the listed eHealth tools are rated as extremely useful if the World Health Organization could o� er these as generic prototypes

for adaptation to the Philippines. The speci� ed eHealth services are also considered extremely useful.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)Telehealth

Decision Support Systems (DSS)Directories of health-care professionals and institutions

National drug registriesNational electronic registries

General Practitioner Information Systems (GPIS)Hospital Information Systems (HIS)

Patient Information Systems (PIS)Electronic Health Records (eHR)

0 1 2 3 4 5Usefulness

Figure 6. Preferred generic eHealth tools to be provided by WHO

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)Telehealth

Decision Support Systems (DSS)Directories of health-care professionals and institutions

National drug registriesNational electronic registries

General Practitioner Information Systems (GPIS)Hospital Information Systems (HIS)

Patient Information Systems (PIS)Electronic Health Records (eHR)

0 1 2 3 4 5Usefulness

Figure 6. Preferred generic eHealth tools to be provided by WHO

Advice on human resources development for eHealthAdvice on eLearning programmes

Information on trends and developments in eHealthAdvice on eHealth norms and standards

Information on e�ective/best eHealth practicesAdvice on methods for M&E of eHealth services

Advice on eHealth policy and strategyAdvice on national needs assessments for eHealth

0 1 2 3 4 5Usefulness

Figure 7. Preferred eHealth services to be provided by WHO

Advice on human resources development for eHealthAdvice on eLearning programmes

Information on trends and developments in eHealthAdvice on eHealth norms and standards

Information on e�ective/best eHealth practicesAdvice on methods for M&E of eHealth services

Advice on eHealth policy and strategyAdvice on national needs assessments for eHealth

0 1 2 3 4 5Usefulness

Figure 7. Preferred eHealth services to be provided by WHO

For more information see Explanatory notesFor electronic version see http://www.who.int/GOe

* per 100 inhabitants

© World Health Organization 2006

Coun

try

indi

cato

rs Population (000s) 80 166

GDP per capita (Int $) 5 490

Total health expenditure (% of GDP) 3.2

OECD country No

World Bank category 3

ICT Di� usion Index 0.294

Main telephone lines* 4.16

Internet users* 5.32

Mobile phone subscribers* 39.85