AB102. Strengthening Department of Health (DOH) regional core teams in North Luzon, Philippines: how the Bayang Malusog Program empowers health leaders to accelerate universal health coverage

Background: Universal health coverage (UHC) implementation was upended by the pandemic, halting health systems integration efforts to operationalize UHC. Regional health leaders lead the UHC implementation and have a significant stake in the provinces’ health systems integration work. This paper aims to document the key results, implementation experiences, and lessons learned from the Bayang Malusog (Healthy Nation) Program across selected Department of Health (DOH) regional offices in North Luzon, with the goal of informing future strategies for strengthening local health systems and advancing UHC.

Methods: This paper talks about a fast-tracked leadership training program for the DOH regional UHC core teams in North Luzon, Philippines, aimed at improving leadership skills and technical knowledge, while also recording how the regional UHC core team helps speed up the implementation of UHC. Applying the 70-20-10 learning and development framework, participants received training, coaching, mentoring, and technical assistance. These provided them with strategies that they applied immediately to collaborate with provincial and other stakeholders.

Results: Improved leadership and technical competencies gained from the program resulted in the creation of effective regional UHC core teams in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos, and Cagayan Valley regions, which improved technical support and involved PhilHealth officers and other national government agencies in UHC implementation. These improvements resulted in achieving faster integration of the health system and more local officials committing to UHC implementation in CAR, Cagayan Valley, and the Ilocos region.

Conclusions: Integrating leadership training and technical sessions, mentoring, coaching, and hands-on practicum was key in strengthening participants’ capacity and ensuring the effective application of lessons in UHC implementation.

Keywords: Health leadership development; health systems integration; leadership training; universal health coverage (UHC)