Healthcare leaders, government officials, patient advocates and international partners are calling for the creation of updated Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for eye diseases in the Philippines to address the growing burden of vision-related illnesses.
The call, made at a high-level roundtable, underscores the need for clear, standardized guidelines to integrate sight-saving retinal care into the national health benefit package.
The multi-stakeholder group, which included the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), medical societies like the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology (PAO) and Vitreo-Retina Society of the Philippines (VRSP) and global partners, said that sight saving should be a shared mission.
They cited the immediate need to develop CPGs for retinal diseases such as Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (nAMD).
“Access challenges for innovative medicines for retinal disease continue to be a big challenge here. And there are no updated clinical practice guidelines or approved newer medicines in the Philippine national formulary,” said Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland in the Philippines Hans-Christian Brumann at the event, organized by the Swiss Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and the Embassy of Switzerland, in partnership with Roche (Philippines) Inc. (Roche).
Experts from the DOH and PhilHealth acknowledged that while financing mechanisms exist, the lack of clear CPGs presents a hurdle to formally integrating retinal care into national health benefits.
Head of the Primary Care Project Management Team at PhilHealth Dr. Mary Antonette Remonte noted the importance of early intervention for eye diseases but pointed to logistical challenges in developing the guidelines.
“Right now, the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology is actually pushing to create its own, even willing to fund its own. But logistics are really difficult. The institutions that will actually make the CPGs are very few and far between. So that’s also the challenge,” she said.
DOH consultant Dr. Ofelia Alcantara suggested crafting localized CPGs that prioritize DME and nAMD and highlighted the potential of using clinical pathways in the interim.
A key challenge noted by stakeholders is limited access to innovative medicines not yet included in the Philippine National Formulary (PNF).
Roche (Philippines) Inc. Healthcare Ecosystems Chapter lead Dr. Ma. Teresa Dioko reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting CPG creation and patient access, noting, “The innovations are here to help address that.”
Citing findings from the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Vision Health Survey, Roche (Philippines) Inc. general manager Dr. Diana Edralin revealed that nine in ten Filipino diabetics already report symptoms of vision loss, underscoring the urgency of coordinated action.
“Our commitment is to share with health stakeholders and with everyone, especially also the media, the Asia Pacific Vision Health Survey… So that there is a sense of urgency that we put a stop to the neglect of vision health here in the Philippines,” Edralin said.
She also cited Roche’s efforts with the VRSP to build the country’s first multi-site retinal disease registry.
The roundtable ended with a consensus that eye care must be recognized as an essential component of universal healthcare, with stakeholders pledging concrete steps to develop CPGs, strengthen patient pathways and expand treatment access.
