The Aquino Health Agenda of 2010 articulates succinctly the Philippine health sector's aim for universal health coverage. The agenda has three thrusts: rapid expansion of enrollment and benefit delivery using subsidies for the poorest families, improved access to quality hospitals and health-care facilities, and attainment of health-related Millennium Development Goals through additional effort and resources targeted to the most critical areas in the country. Years after the launch of the agenda, the Department of Health collaborated with key institutions to implement the Health Systems Research Management (HSRM) Project, with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies as one of the collaborators. Through this HSRM project, several research projects were carried out, providing critical updates and new information on the progress of the health sector's Aquino Health Agenda. Several of these critical updates and new information are presented in this special volume of the Philippine Journal of Development. The volume focuses on health financing and service delivery, particularly PhilHealth coverage, household spending for health, and health infrastructure.
