Zuellig Family Foundation

{{Infobox organization | name = Zuellig Family Foundation | image = 250px|class=skin-invert-image | caption = Logo of the organization | formation = 2008 | type = Non-governmental organization | leader_title2 = President and Executive Director | leader_name2 = Austere Panadero<ref name="Dumlao">{{cite news |last1=Arceo-Dumlao |first1=Tina |title=New Zuellig Foundation chief |url=https://business.inquirer.net/395586/biz-buzz-lucio-tan-groups-d-day-looms |access-date=29 July 2025 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=13 April 2023}}</ref> | region_served = Philippines | website = {{URL|zuelligfoundation.com}} }} The '''Zuellig Family Foundation''' (ZFF) is a Philippine nonprofit organization that works to improve health outcomes in poor and underserved communities, mainly through health leadership and governance training for local government leaders.<ref name="Pedrasa">{{cite news |last1=Pedrasa |first1=Ira P. |title=Zuellig foundation's heart beats for health |url=https://business.inquirer.net/207060/zuellig-foundations-heart-beats-for-health |access-date=29 July 2025 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=14 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Buban">{{cite news |last1=Buban |first1=Charles E. |title=Helping improve local health system |url=https://business.inquirer.net/125843/helping-improve-local-health-system |access-date=29 July 2025 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=8 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="Gonzales">{{cite news |last1=Gonzales |first1=Iris |title=Zuellig family, Medved-Po among Forbes' philanthropy heroes |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/29/1714893/zuellig-family-medved-po-among-forbes-philanthropy-heroes |access-date=29 July 2025 |work=The Philippine Star |date=29 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Philstar">{{cite news |title=Zuellig organizations respond to COVID-19 |url=https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/04/03/2005079/zuellig-organizations-respond-covid-19 |access-date=29 July 2025 |work=The Philippine Star |date=3 April 2020}}</ref> It was established in 1997 as the Pharmaceutical Health and Family Foundation and was renamed to Zuellig Family Foundation in 2008.<ref name="Dumlao"></ref><ref name="Pedrasa"></ref><ref name="Philstar"></ref> The foundation is rooted in the Zuellig family’s long history in healthcare in Asia.<ref name="Dumlao"></ref><ref name="Chia">{{cite journal |last1=Chia |first1=Audrey, and Yee Wei Lim |title=The Zuellig Family Foundation: A Strategic Philanthropic Approach to Integrated Care |journal=International Journal of Integrated Care |date=16 December 2016 |volume=16 |issue=6 |page=193 |doi=10.5334/ijic.2741 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Background == ZFF was formally renamed in 2008 to reflect the Zuellig family's growing focus on health-centered philanthropy.<ref name="Pedrasa"></ref><ref name="Philstar"></ref> Roberto Romulo, then chairman, invited former Agrarian Reform Secretary Ernesto Garilao to serve as ZFF’s founding president.<ref name="Dumlao"></ref><ref name="Pedrasa"></ref> Former Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Austere Panadero, who joined in 2018 as executive director, was appointed president in 2023.<ref name="Dumlao"></ref> Former Secretary of Health Manuel Dayrit currently serves as the chairman of the Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manuel Dayrit |url=https://faithhealthcommission.org/people/manuel-dayrit/ |website=Georgetown-Lancet Commission on Faith, Trust and Health |access-date=12 November 2025}}</ref>

The foundation receives financial support from the Zuellig family, contributing about PHP 150 million annually during its early years, averaging $2.3 million per year in recent years.<ref name="Pedrasa"></ref><ref name="Gonzales"></ref>

== Programs == ZFF is known for its Health Leadership and Governance Program, which focuses on training local leaders to become effective stewards of health in their communities.<ref name="Buban"></ref><ref name="Buban2">{{cite news |last1=Buban |first1=Charles E. |title=Local program helps lower high rates of maternal deaths |url=https://business.inquirer.net/191160/local-program-helps-lower-high-rates-of-maternal-deaths |access-date=29 July 2025 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="Locsin">{{cite news |last1=Locsin |first1=Chickie R. |title=Zuellig Foundation taps mayor power to improve rural healthcare system |url=https://verafiles.org/articles/zuellig-foundation-taps-mayor-power-to-improve-rural-healthcare-system |access-date=29 July 2025 |work=Vera Files |date=7 February 2015}}</ref> This is part of what ZFF calls its Health Change Model, which emphasises the importance of local leadership in addressing health system gaps.<ref name="Pedrasa"></ref><ref name="Buban"></ref><ref name="Chia"></ref><ref name="Buban2"></ref><ref name="Locsin"></ref>

Its approach attempts to encourage collaboration between different parts of the local health system, including provincial hospitals, municipal health officers, and barangay health workers.<ref name="Buban"></ref><ref name="Chia"></ref><ref name="Buban2"></ref> The foundation also partners with academic institutions to deliver its training programs.<ref name="Buban2"></ref>

The foundation’s initial focus was on reducing maternal deaths, aligning with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).<ref name="Pedrasa"></ref><ref name="Chia"></ref><ref name="Buban2"></ref> From 2008 to 2013, ZFF reported dramatic improvements in maternal and child health outcomes, in which the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of municipalities in the first training cohort fell from 167 to 42, the second cohort from 193 to 55 and the third from 141 to 41.<ref name="Chia"></ref>

== Recognition == In 2017, Forbes Asia recognized ZFF as one of its "Heroes of Philanthropy", citing its work in improving health services in rural areas and its impact on maternal and child mortality.<ref name="Gonzales"></ref>

== References ==

== External links == * [https://zuelligfoundation.com/ Zuellig Family Foundation Official Website]

Category:Charities based in the Philippines Category:Foundations based in the Philippines Category:Organizations established in 1997 Category:1997 establishments in the Philippines