Excellency/ies, 

Heads of State, 

Heads of government, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is my honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the President of the Republic of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. 

The Philippines is committed to achieve improved equitable health and financial protection outcomes for all Filipinos, recognizing that health is a fundamental right and a driver for stronger, more resilient nations.  In promoting such right, the Philippines joins other Member States in the earnest pursuit of Universal Health Coverage and took the bold step last February 2019 to pass our very own UHC Law. 

Through this law, we have the opportunity to reorganize our health system with primary health care -- envisioned in the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978  -- as the foundation. This means collaborating with other sectors to design environments that foster healthy choices. This means investing more in creative and thoughtful engagement of the public to promote health and prevent disease, working closely with other sectors to address the social and commercial determinants of health.  This means inverting our pyramid so primary care becomes the base of the healthcare system. 

As with any reform, new resources need to be mobilized. We worked hard to increase taxes for sugar sweetened beverages and impose higher taxes for tobacco products. And in the spirit of innovative financing, the UHC law earmarked lottery and casino remittances for the reforms.  

UHC is about aspiring for and co-creating with our people a health system that is by them and for them, the national government is clear in its role as a “creative enabler” of the local government units to practice participatory leadership and responsible stewardship of their local health systems, informed by good use of good evidence.    

But apart from being aspirational in that our reforms will be for all Filipinos, it is also a call to action: everyone is sought to contribute. The transformation of the health sector requires a whole-of-system, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society effort. This is true for our UHC reforms, this is true for our pursuit of SDGs, this is true for our aim to build a healthier world for all. Thus, for our part, the Philippines renews its commitment to achieving our unified goals, and to further strengthen our partnerships and collaborations. 

Thank you.