Philippines eyed as next wellness destination

MANILA, Philippines — If you have the means to live longer and better, chances are you would consider Singapore or Hong Kong for your medical checkups.

It’s easy to see why. Both cities have built reputations for advanced health care services that focus not only on treating illness but also on longevity and quality of life.

But Malaysia-based wellness services firm ALPS Global Inc. sees the Philippines as the next big destination for health care and wellness.

ALPS believes that health care services like genomic testing, precision diagnostics, cellular therapy and other biotechnology advancements must not be limited to a small group of wealthy individuals.

Changes in Filipinos’ habits and mindset toward health care make them a good market for advanced and specialized health care services.

Filipinos are becoming more health-conscious and are slowly going beyond traditional concepts of wellness like supplements, showing growing interest in preventative health, personalized medicine and longevity science-backed interventions, according to ALPS.

“Our objective is to make these technologies more accessible and build the infrastructure locally so Filipinos do not necessarily have to travel abroad to access advanced health care,” ALPS chief operating officer Amanda Low told The STAR via e-mail.

“Ultimately, our goal is not simply to help people live longer. It is to help people live longer, healthier and better, by giving them earlier information about their health, more personalized options and access to science that can support better health care decisions,” Low added.

ALPS is seeing a “sophisticated” and “fast-growing” wellness market in the country for its various services such as genomic testing, precision diagnostics, cellular therapy and clinical protocols.

Bonifacio Global City, for example, ALPS said, represents the kind of community ready for such a health care ecosystem since people in the area are “looking beyond conventional medicine and are increasingly interested in preventative, personalized health.”

Some of the services that ALPS wants to bring to the Philippines are genome sequencing, which would analyze an individual’s genetic risks and identify health risks earlier than usual, as well as cellular therapy that involves natural killer cells and stem cells.

Another service is its mRNA research and biomarker development that helps understand biological aging and how individuals respond to medical interventions.

“Instead of approaching wellness simply through aesthetics, supplements, or general health recommendations, we start by understanding the individual at a biological level and then develop a more personalized approach,” Low said.

Low is coordinating with its local partners to establish ALPS’ presence in the country.

Alongside the services, ALPS is also keen to develop the necessary health care infrastructure as part of its local ecosystem, including accredited laboratories, trained clinicians and credible clinical protocols.

ALPS’ local partners Paolo Castro, an interior designer, and Jacob del Rosario, chief executive officer of CJ Medical Innovations Inc., are upbeat about the growth and development of the country’s wellness industry, including preventive health care.

They described Filipinos as more proactive about their health now. Wellness for Filipinos used to be a spa day 10 years ago, but now it has become visiting a specialist even before sickness kicks in.

Likewise, wellness tourism in the country is changing. Tourists used to go to beaches, but today a growing number of foreigners are coming to the Philippines for medical and wellness services, Castro and Del Rosario said.

“So you have two markets moving together - an everyday, urban wellness market driven by locals, and a tourism market built around people traveling here for care. Where those two start to overlap is the most interesting part,” they said.

Citing Global Wellness Institute figures, the two noted that the Philippines’ wellness economy grew from $36 billion in 2019 to $47.3 billion in 2024, with the country ranking 23rd out of 218 countries in terms of wellness economy.

The local partners of ALPS pointed out that preventive and personalized health care offer the biggest opportunities as more Filipinos want to understand what is happening in their bodies before it shows up as a diagnosis.

Biological age testing, genomic screening and hormone and metabolic panels are becoming standard requests instead of novelties, they said.

“The interesting opportunity for the Philippines is the space between traditional health care and traditional resort wellness, where medically guided programs can be combined with recovery, hospitality and a destination experience,” Castro and Del Rosario said.

CJMI, a health care innovation and infrastructure company, is partnering with hospitals to bring advanced health care services closer to the public.

One example is its partnership with Makati Life Medical Center, which brought the United Imaging Healthcare’s first AI-powered PET/CT system in the country. The technology allows Filipino patients to access advanced imaging technology that previously wasn’t available locally and can support more precise cancer diagnosis and treatment planning, according to CJMI.

“Ultimately, our goal is to make advanced health care technologies and newer models of care more accessible to Filipinos without compromising clinical standards,” Del Rosario said.

“If we do that well, it becomes normal for someone in Manila to get the kind of preventive, data-driven care they’d currently have to travel abroad for,” he added.