The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) is sounding the alarm over a deepening shortage of cardiologists in the country, noting that for every 44,000 Filipinos, there is only heart specialist.

With just 2,500 cardiologist for a population of more than 112 million, PHA president Dr. Walid Amil is calling for urgent action—starting with a long-term goal of deploying one cardiologist in every city and, eventually, in every town across the country.

“Many of our kababayans still travel for hours—or even days—just to see a heart doctor or undergo a procedure,” he said.

Amil noted that most cardiologists remain concentrated in Metro Manila due to better technology, modern facilities, and a larger patient base.

“You cannot blame them,” he added, pointing out that conditions in the capital make it easier for specialists to thrive professionally.

To address this imbalance, the Department of Health (DOH) is scaling up 17 regional heart centers, including the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Iloilo City.

These centers aim to become fully equipped hubs for life-saving procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery.

Amil believes the regional hospitals are the key to encouraging cardiologists to practice in the provinces.

“They will stay and serve if the infrastructure exists,” he said. “May way sila na mag-stay doon.”

PhilHealth has also made inroads by covering major heart procedures under its expanded benefits, including angiograms (P197,000) and angioplasty (P523,000).

Through its “No Balance Billing” program, even indigent patients can receive these services for free—if treated in public wards.

“Patients now survive because they can access free angioplasty,” Amil stressed, crediting the partnership between PHA, PhilHealth, and the DOH as a major life-saving initiative.

PhilHealth is also in talks to cover more cardiovascular services, including implantable defibrillators, arrhythmia treatments, and pediatric heart surgeries.

In Western Visayas, the numbers reflect the national crisis: only 67 cardiologists serve a population of nearly 8 million. That includes just 37 adult cardiologists, 7 pediatric heart doctors, 5 cardiovascular surgeons, and 2 cardiovascular anesthesiologists.

“There is only one cardiovascular intensivist across three institutions. We are still severely lacking,” said Dr. Ma. Sylvia De Pili, president of PHA-Western Visayas.

The math is stark: each cardiologist in the region is responsible for more than 118,000 people.

While the WVMC has served as a regional heart center since 2018, it still has no fellowship program to train new cardiologists. De Pili warned that unless more specialists are developed locally, the region will fall further behind.

“If we don’t train new cardiologists, we’ll be at a loss,” she said.

Still, progress has been made. Since the PHA launched the Western Visayas Heart Mission in 2016, more patients have been able to access surgeries without traveling to Manila.

WVMC now handles procedures covered by PhilHealth, helping patients from remote provinces like Negros, Aklan, and even Palawan.

“It’s a big help to our community,” said PHA vice president Dr. Mae Dagooc.

Now, the PHA-Western Visayas chapter is advocating for adult cardiology fellowship training in WVMC to build a sustainable health workforce in the region.

The vision is to not only train local doctors but to also encourage Metro Manila-based specialists to relocate and serve Visayas communities.

But for that to happen, Amil said provincial leaders must also invest in hospitals and public health systems.

“It’s a tandem program,” he said. “If the province doesn’t develop its health infrastructure, how can you convince a cardiologist to go there? Who are the patients? Who can afford the care? Where are the facilities?”

As cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the country, PHA said it will continue to push for policy changes, specialist training, and broader access to heart care—from the cities down to the rural barangays.IMT