Global medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) is ramping up its Philippin presence, identifying the country as a key growth market in Southeast Asia amid rising demand for more efficient healthcare solutions.
Lu Liang, BD managing director for Southeast Asia, emphasized the strategic importance of the Philippines in the company’s regional roadmap. “The Philippines is one of the very important countries we are focused on at the moment,” Liang said, citing a strong opportunity to improve healthcare outcomes through efficiency.
Liang said that while per capita healthcare spending in the Philippines is relatively low at USD200—compared to higher-spending neighbors like Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia—it supports a life expectancy of 72 years, among the youngest in the region. The country’s healthcare system also faces challenges such as a low doctor-to-population ratio (0.04 per 1,000) and modest nurse availability (1.7 per 1,000).
BD plans to address these gaps by introducing more of its medical technologies—such as blood vials, syringes, and infection-prevention products—to boost frontline healthcare efficiency. “You cannot train more doctors overnight, so leveraging the existing workforce with better tools is key,” Liang noted.
Anand Menon, BD site leader in the Philippines, said the company is working to expand its reach through partnerships with hospitals, aiming to onboard 10 new partner institutions by year-end. The move aligns with BD’s broader strategy to grow across its medical, life sciences, and interventional segments in the country.
“We are trying to look at the disease burden overall in the Philippines and identify where our solutions can have the biggest impact,” Menon said.
The expansion comes as the country’s medical technology market is projected to generate USD1.01 billion in revenue this year, according to Statista, with medical devices alone expected to account for USD729.56 million by 2025. The market is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 8.21 percent, reaching USD1.39 billion by 2029.
With growing healthcare demand and structural inefficiencies, BD sees the Philippines as a fertile ground to advance its mission of enhancing care delivery through innovation.
