One of essentially the most urgent points going through any nation is healthcare, particularly in creating nations just like the Philippines.
The Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) has been showcasing healthcare options that faucet synthetic intelligence (AI), prolonged actuality, and clever instruments in creating improvements that deal with the nation’s crucial healthcare gaps, by means of its Digital and Frontier Technologies for Health (DFTH) Programme.
Speaking to GovInsider, DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Jaime C Montoya says that science and know-how play an important function in constructing a extra inclusive, resilient, and future-ready healthcare system throughout the nation.
Key improvements embody the Immersive Gamification Technology Systems (ImGTS) developed by the Augmented Experience E-health Laboratory (AXEL) of the University of the Philippines Manila, which makes use of interactive digital environments to help rehabilitation for youngsters with cerebral palsy and sufferers with Alzheimer’s illness.
Another is the HealthPH challenge by the National University of Manila, which employs machine studying and pure language processing to watch real-time respiratory illness developments by means of evaluation of social media posts in a number of native languages.
Other initiatives embody iSULAT, an clever and unified handwriting software developed by the University of Santo Tomas, for early childhood handwriting evaluation.
These applied sciences are being examined in collaboration with related stakeholders to reinforce public health response and illness prevention, says Montoya.
Project implementation and innovation
“The DFTH Programme supports projects leveraging digital solutions, AI, and emerging technologies to improve healthcare delivery and meet evolving industry needs,” Montoya explains.
Research proposals are assessed for impression, relevance, technical advantage, feasibility, and potential for utilisation.
For technology-driven initiatives like iSULAT, ImGTS, and HealthPH, evaluations deal with the worth proposition, benefits over present options, and the challenge’s know-how roadmap, which covers growth, testing, trials, and commercialisation.
Scalability and long-term sustainability are additionally key concerns.
Montoya emphasises that the DOST-PCHRD will not be the implementing company of the ImGTS tasks, that are led by Veeda Michelle M Anlacan and Maria Eliza R Aguila of the University of the Philippines’ AXEL Research Group.
Focused on Alzheimer’s illness and cerebral palsy sufferers, the tasks face challenges in affected person recruitment and retention however see alternatives in prototype enhancements, patent purposes, and collaborations with teams such because the Dementia Council of the Philippines and the Alzheimer’s Disease Association to spice up participant engagement.
Building capability for digital health
Montoya emphasises the engagement of the native authorities models (LGUs) and healthcare suppliers to undertake digital health instruments within the nation by means of partnerships, coaching, and deployment programmes.
Initiatives embody eHATID LGU, an offline-capable Android-based medical report system enabling barangay (neighbourhood/village) health staff to report affected person knowledge, generate PhilHealth stories, and entry health analytics has been adopted by over 450 LGUs with practically 1,000 personnel skilled.
Another is RabDash DC, a rabies knowledge analytics dashboard for the Davao City Veterinary Office, which consolidates surveillance knowledge to information evidence-based rabies management methods.
The DOST-PCHRD’s TEKI (Technology-Enabled Knowledge and Innovation) in Health Programme additional helps adoption by deploying regionally developed improvements to precedence communities, involving LGUs and stakeholders of their use, validation, and scaling.
To subscribe to the GovInsider bulletin, click on here.
“DOST-PCHRD works to bridge the digital divide by ensuring equitable access to digital health innovations and integrating connectivity technologies into the health system,” Montoya shares.
Key initiatives embody RxBox, a multi-functional system with vital-sign monitoring, an digital medical data (EMR) system, and teleconsultation capabilities, enabling main hospitals and rural health models in distant areas to ship important care with out lengthy affected person journey.
To spur nationwide innovation, DOST-PCHRD additionally helps HeaRTNovation Hubs in health establishments, hospitals, and universities, serving as native centres for co-developing and adapting health applied sciences to fulfill neighborhood wants.
Global positioning and collaboration
“DOST-PCHRD fosters global collaboration and private sector innovation to advance health technology in the Philippines by partnering with international organisations, supporting local startups, and facilitating cross-border expertise exchange,” Montoya provides.
Through analysis grants, innovation hubs, and occasions just like the Philippine Health Research Innovation Matching Event (PHRIME), it connects innovators with companions to speed up growth, validation, compliance, and scaling of health options tailor-made to native wants, he notes.
DOST-PCHRD sees native improvements in digital and frontier applied sciences as key to positioning the Philippines inside regional and world health tech ecosystems, says Montoya, including that by supporting analysis that addresses low-resource health challenges, these Filipino-led options can have a worldwide impression.
The council aids know-how switch by means of IP providers, pre-commercialisation help, spinoff creation, and nationwide innovation hubs.
Strategic imaginative and prescient and coverage alignment
Montoya envisions reworking the Philippine healthcare system by means of digitalisation, harnessing AI, large knowledge, and cloud computing to realize equitable entry, even in distant areas.
Guided by the National Unified Health Research Agenda (NUHRA) and Harmonised National Research and Development Agenda (HNRDA), and carried out by means of the Digital and Frontier Technologies for Health Programme in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, it seeks to handle nationwide priorities and healthcare gaps.
Achieving this requires sturdy insurance policies on knowledge privateness, interoperability, ethics, and financing, supported by adaptive rules and robust public-private partnerships for infrastructure, coaching, and deployment.
Through initiatives just like the POLISEE Grant Programme, DOST-PCHRD goals to translate analysis into evidence-based insurance policies and scalable options, fostering a resilient, inclusive, and globally aggressive health system.
“In line with this mission, we invite researchers and establishments to associate with us in
creating health options that deal with and cater to the wants of the Filipino individuals,” he ends.
GovInsider’s 2nd Healthcare Day 2025 convenes healthcare policymakers, tech leaders, and frontline practitioners to share actionable methods that harness innovation to reinforce care supply, help clinicians, and empower residents. The occasion spotlights how digital health options, AI-driven insights, and neighborhood care fashions can speed up Healthier SG’s imaginative and prescient of a resilient, equitable, and tech-enabled healthcare system. Register here >>>