Mandaue, a highly urbanized city in Central Visayas in the Philippines, has taken bold steps to reframe reproductive health as a foundation for women’s empowerment. In recent years, the city faced serious gaps in reproductive health care. Services were available only once a week and just five trained family planning providers served the entire population. This shortage prevented working women and young mothers from consistently accessing the care they needed to make informed decisions about their health, bodies, and futures. Social and cultural barriers further deepened the challenge.

A Turning Point

Between 2021 and 2023, adolescent birth rates in Mandaue rose sharply – from 14 to 35 per 1,000 girls – revealing persistent gaps in adolescent-friendly reproductive health services and information. The surge signaled an urgent need for inclusive, responsive, and community-driven solutions. In 2022, in response to these challenges, Mandaue joined The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a global platform that supports evidence-based, city-led solutions to improve reproductive health outcomes. This partnership marked the beginning of a strategic shift toward women-centered and youth-responsive programming. To lead the effort, Mayor Jonas Cortes established a City Leadership Team (CLT) composed of healthcare professionals, barangay officials, NGO partners, and youth advocates. This multi-sectoral group ensured that policies and programs reflected the real experiences of women and young people. With TCI’s technical support, the city began strengthening its health systems by scaling up family planning and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) programs. TCI provided capacity-building for local leaders and frontline workers, developed systems for monitoring and quality improvement, and offered coaching to institutionalize inclusive, gender-responsive service delivery. As part of the program design, Mandaue identified key priorities for implementing TCI’s high-impact interventions. These included mobilizing community health volunteers, expanding post-pregnancy family planning, introducing mobile outreach and adolescent-friendly services, engaging communities, and improving health governance. City Health Officer Dr. Debra Maria Catulong affirmed that reducing teenage pregnancies remains a top priority, recognizing that empowering youth with the right information, services, and support is vital to building healthier communities and safeguarding their future.

Empowering Women Where They Are

Central to this transformation was the creation of the Women’s Health Caravan (WHC), a mobile, integrated outreach model adapted from TCI’s mobile outreach interventions. The city localized the model not just to broaden reach but to embed empowerment and agency into every aspect of care delivery. The WHC redefined how services are delivered. Care was brought directly to where women live, work, and gather. Recognizing that empowerment requires both accessibility and convenience, the caravan set up in barangay centers, school gyms, workplaces, and shopping malls – removing traditional barriers that had long limited women’s access to care. It directly addressed challenges related to poverty, stigma, and geographic isolation. The caravan focused on barangays with the greatest need, areas with low modern contraceptive use and high adolescent birth rates. At each stop, the CLT worked closely with local officials and community leaders, using data to deliver a clear message: reproductive health is not a privilege, it is a right. These engagements did more than inform; they mobilized. Each caravan visit began with lectures on reproductive rights, choice, and agency. Women were encouraged not only to access services but also to understand their right to make informed decisions about their bodies and futures. In addition to service delivery, the team collected stories, feedback, and insights to understand how women experienced the care and how it shaped their confidence and decision-making.

A Full Spectrum of Care

Since its launch in March 2024, the Mandaue City Health Caravan has provided rights-based healthcare to thousands of women in their own communities. Designed to meet the needs of women and girls throughout their lives, the caravan offers:

• Health Services: Free medical consultations delivered in accessible, community-based settings.
• Family Planning: Rights-centered counseling and access to a full range of contraceptives, including short-acting and long-acting methods, with implant and IUD services offered under full informed consent.
• Maternal and Child Health: Pre-natal and post-partum check-ups, plus essential immunizations for children.
• Sexual Health: Confidential STI/HIV screening, testing, and counseling, with stigma-free care.
• Preventive Care: On-site breast exams, cervical cancer screenings, Pap smears, and HPV vaccinations.
• Adolescent Health: Tailored, age-appropriate services that support young women’s autonomy, confidence, and informed decision-making.
• Health Education: Wellness-focused sessions that include mental health, self-esteem, and body image, topics often overlooked in traditional service models.

Complementing this mobile outreach is the launch of the “Pink Corner” at Parkmall. This dedicated, woman-centered space provides access to essential services and serves as a hub for ongoing health education. Services include free breast exams, Pap smears, HIV testing, and mental health consultations, creating a safe and empowering environment for women in a public setting. By combining mobile outreach with a fixed community resource, Mandaue has expanded access, built trust, reduced stigma, and strengthened women’s right to make informed choices about their health. To maintain quality and consistency in service delivery, TCI partnered with the Department of Health, Central Visayas Center for Health Development, to conduct Family Planning Competency-Based Training for all 27 providers across the city’s health facilities. The training covered technical skills and emphasized client-centered care that is respectful and informed. Providers were also trained to take on expanded roles in service delivery, coordination, and health communication within their communities.

Building Stronger Partnerships for Inclusive Health Systems

The success of the WHC is rooted in strong collaboration. At the heart of the initiative is a network of partners, each contributing expertise and resources to strengthen Mandaue’s health system and expand access to quality care. The WHC is a flagship initiative of the Mandaue LGU, created to bring essential services closer to women and families. With TCI’s support, the city strengthened the caravan’s design using technical guidance and capacity-building efforts. TCI helped ensure the integration of scalable, evidence-based practices that respond to local needs. The Department of Health, Central Visayas Center for Health Development, aligned implementation with national health policies and standards. As a pilot site for the Universal Health Care program, Mandaue adopted the DOH’s Omnibus Guidelines on the Life Stage Approach, promoting a more integrated and person-centered model of care. This helped improve service consistency and quality across barangay health units, building trust in the public health system. The Commission on Population and Development Region VII contributed a broader lens, situating reproductive health within population and development planning. Their input kept the initiative focused on both immediate service delivery and long-term community well-being.

Community-based women’s groups played a vital role in reaching underserved populations and building trust. Their involvement ensured that services were culturally sensitive and responsive to real community needs. Educational institutions also partnered with the caravan to reach young people. These school partnerships expanded access to accurate, age-appropriate reproductive health education for adolescents, laying the foundation for informed choices early in life. Together, these partnerships have created more than just a successful program. They have shaped a more inclusive and responsive health system that reflects a shared commitment to making healthcare accessible for all in Mandaue.

Empowerment Through Choice

The modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) reflects not only access to contraception but also women’s power to make reproductive decisions. In 2024, mCPR rose to 30 percent from 27 percent the previous year, allowing Mandaue to meet the national target for the first time. During the same period, the adolescent birth rate declined from 35 to 29, showing encouraging progress in reaching and supporting young women.

Sustaining the Momentum

Mandaue’s journey reflects more than just a programmatic shift. It signals a long-term commitment to embedding women’s empowerment at the core of public health. In 2025, the city officially graduated from TCI, marking its transition to full local ownership of the interventions. Through dedicated budget allocations, including a 381% increase in local government commitment from 2024 to 2025, the city has institutionalized support for initiatives like the Women’s Health Caravan. These resources support not only operations but also education, outreach, and the elements that foster real agency and informed choice.

The city also invested in infrastructure to support dignity and safety. With Adolescent Friendly Health Facility accreditations, Mandaue upgraded its facilities to provide privacy, comfort, and a welcoming space for women and girls. By aligning with national goals and grounding its work in local leadership and community voices, Mandaue is showing what sustainable, women-centered health governance looks like: resilient, inclusive, and prepared for the future. As Dr. Catulong affirms,

This is what happens when healthcare is made human. When services are local, consistent, and rooted in trust, behavior change becomes possible – and lives are changed in the process.

In Mandaue, that change is not only happening. It is being sustained, and its future is being shaped by the very women and communities it serves. 👉 Watch presentation about Mandaue City below