The Health Economics and Finance Program (HEFP) of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies has developed a new data platform for tracking local governments’ spending on health and nutrition, offering one of the most comprehensive platforms for tracking public investments in health allocated across the country. This data complements the recently released study on spending of LGU on health. Read the full study at .
The data platform indicates substantial variation in health spending across LGUs, both in per capita investment and in budget prioritization. Health spending per capita varies widely across provinces and highly urbanized cities, suggesting uneven capacity for essential health services. For instance, Makati City, the richest LGU in the country, spends more than 3,000 pesos per capita; other provinces spend less than 100 pesos per capita.
The data platform also examines health spending as a share of expenditures suggesting that while some LGUs allocate a large portion of their budgets to health and nutrition, others devote relatively limited resources, despite having comparable fiscal space.
“These variations matter, as they reflect not only differences in fiscal capacity, but also local priorities and governance choices, which shape access to primary care and health outcomes,” said Valerie Gilbert Ulep, òòò½´«Ã½ Senior Research Fellow and HEFP Program Director.
By consolidating data from official LGU submissions, the database provides a clearer picture of how decentralized health financing functions in practice, highlighting uneven and fragmented local health investments. Tracking local investments is critical, particularly as the UHC implementation continues.
The HEFP data platform is intended to support policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders in identifying gaps, improving accountability, and informing reforms to ensure more equitable and efficient health financing across all LGUs.
Read the Health Financing .
In the coming months, HEFP will also release additional data platforms covering other domains (). These tools will further strengthen evidence-based decision-making and provide a more complete picture of health system performance across the Philippines.
