Where can I get free maintenance medicine for hypertension or diabetes?
Last updated: 2026-07-11 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
Start at your nearest Rural Health Unit, city health office, or barangay health station. Patients enrolled in the local Hypertension and Diabetes Clubs receive free first-line maintenance medicines (such as losartan, amlodipine, and metformin) under the PhilPEN protocol, after a screening and enrollment. You can also register for PhilHealth Konsulta, which includes essential medicines for chronic conditions at your accredited provider, and check the disease-specific DOH programs — for example free TB drugs at DOTS facilities and free antiretrovirals at HIV treatment hubs. Separately, medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension are exempt from VAT for everyone under RA 10963 (with cancer, mental illness, TB, and kidney disease added under RA 11534), which lowers what you pay at any drugstore.
Primary sources
Frequently asked
How do I get onto the free maintenance-meds program?
Go to your Rural Health Unit, city health office, or barangay health station and ask about the Hypertension and Diabetes Clubs under the PhilPEN protocol. After a screening and enrollment, eligible patients receive free first-line maintenance medicines. Registering for PhilHealth Konsulta with an accredited provider is the other route to free consults, labs, and essential medicines for chronic conditions.
Are there free medicines for specific diseases like TB or HIV?
Yes. The DOH National TB Program provides free TB drugs and diagnostics at DOTS facilities, and HIV treatment hubs provide free antiretrovirals. There are also DOH access programs for cancer and insulin. Ask at your RHU or the nearest DOH-designated facility.
How does the VAT exemption help if the medicine is not free?
Even when you pay for a medicine, RA 10963 (TRAIN) makes medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension VAT-exempt for the general public, and RA 11534 (CREATE) added cancer, mental illness, TB, and kidney-disease medicines. That removes the 12% VAT at any drugstore. Seniors and PWDs get their 20% discount plus VAT exemption on top.
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