Accountability in health programs is easy to talk about and harder to build. It requires more than good intentions – it requires structured moments where local leaders sit with their own data, ask difficult questions, and commit to specific next steps. In the Philippines, The Challenge Initiative (TCI) has built exactly that into its approach.
This quarter, TCI conducted a series of Progress Check in Family Planning Uptake and Local Ownership toward Sustainability & Efficiency sessions – known as PULSE Checks – in five cities: General Santos, Zamboanga, Bacolod, Isabela de Basilan, and Mandaluyong. Developed by TCI, the PULSE Check is a structured diagnostic tool designed to help city health teams identify gaps in family planning service delivery and define practical actions to address them.
What a PULSE Check Looks Like in Practice
Each session brings together city leadership, health officials, and technical staff to examine their own performance indicators and service delivery patterns. Rather than receiving an external assessment, cities drive the analysis themselves – reviewing trends, validating what is working, and surfacing challenges that might otherwise go unaddressed until they become larger problems.
The sessions this quarter were particularly significant as an opportunity to re-establish alignment following leadership transitions and program re-entry. New city officials were introduced to TCI’s approach and to the expectations that come with it, while more established partners used the sessions to recalibrate plans for the year ahead.
Findings from the Philippines’ PULSE Check tool for three cities fro the first quarter of 2026.
From Reflection to Action
The value of the PULSE Check lies not just in the conversation it creates, but in what follows. Cities left each session with more defined plans across key program areas – service delivery, demand generation, and capacity building – with clearer timelines and a sharper sense of how to deploy available resources.
This matters in a context where TCI’s broader operating environment has become more constrained. National austerity measures have limited travel and field activities, and some city governments have shifted to a four-day work week to manage costs. In that environment, making every planning and review session count is not just good practice – it is a necessity.
TCI also used the PULSE Checks to strengthen coordination with regional health offices and population commission offices, reinforcing the partnerships that sustain family planning programs beyond any single funding cycle.
Local Ownership as a Measurable Outcome
Perhaps the most important outcome of these sessions is harder to quantify: city leaders walked away more invested. When health teams examine their own data, shape their own strategies, and commit to their own timelines, accountability becomes internal rather than imposed from outside.
That shift – from compliance to ownership – is what TCI is ultimately trying to build. The PULSE Check is one of the clearest tools it has for getting there.
