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Continue Since 2014, Philips Foundation has worked to bridge the gap in healthcare access for underserved communities.Over the past 10 years, Philips Foundation has provided life-changing healthcare access to millions of people, bringing early disease detection, prevention, and care closer to those who need it most. As we reached this ten-year mark, we wanted to celebrate the innovative solutions and partnerships that have driven our success, from impactful donations to pioneering new healthcare models in underserved settings. It' was not just a celebration of the past, but also a launchpad for the future. Between September 2024 and June 2025, we actively engaged our global community, inspiring Philips employees, deepening collaboration with our partners, and raising public awareness – all aimed at driving future innovations and expanding our impact for the next decade. The challenge is immense, but so is the opportunity. Let's take them on together.
We spoke with Margot Cooijmans, who has been the director of the Philips Foundation from 2016 till August 2025, to reflect on the challenges and successes of the projects and investments that have been bringing quality healthcare access to underserved communities in the past decade.
In the beginning, our efforts mostly consisted of making donations. After the first few years, we realized that we wanted to focus more sharply on the impact we could make. We wanted to drive access to healthcare, and we wanted to know the results of our efforts. We had to be smarter with our strategy. Ultimately, we set an ambitious goal: to improve access to healthcare for 100 million people a year in underserved communities by 2030.
Margot Cooijmans
Director of the Philips Foundation at the time
As we celebrated Philips Foundation's 10th anniversary, we wanted to take you on a journey through ten regions across the globe, where our collective impact has made a real difference. Each region faces unique challenges. From access to maternal and child healthcare in the US to combating heart disease in the Philippines.
But it's not just about challenges. Every difficulty presents an opportunity to use Philips and partners' innovation, expertise, and dedication to transform healthcare for underserved communities. Through this series, you’ll hear inspiring stories of collaboration, resilience, and healthcare solutions addressing local needs.
Philips Foundation works to reduce healthcare disparities in North America, focusing on underserved communities. In the U.S., where maternal mortality is highest among high-income countries – and especially impacts Black women – it partners with Philips and March of Dimes to deliver essential maternal and infant care directly to those who need it most.
At a time when the U.S. faces the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries, the need for innovative healthcare solutions is urgent. A 2022 Commonwealth Fund report shows that the maternal mortality rate in the United States is more than three times the rate in most other high-income countries. It is exceptionally high for Black women — more than double the national average rate and nearly three times higher than the rate for white women. Amidst these growing disparities, Philips, Philips Foundation and the March of Dimes are partnering to bring Mom & Baby Mobile Health Centers® to underserved communities in Phoenix, Tucson and Washington, DC.
In the Netherlands, the Foundation’s efforts are currently focused on improving access to care by reducing waiting times, reducing costs and enhancing cardiac care, one of the biggest killers in the region.
Amid growing healthcare disparities globally, equitable access to care also remains a critical need in the Netherlands. Cardiac arrest is one of the nation’s leading causes of death, with survival often hinging on the first six minutes of response. To address this, Philips Foundation has partnered with local organizations to establish a six-minute cardiac arrest zone in Eindhoven, training 800 residents and installing 44 AEDs across the city. For children with cancer, the Foundation collaborated with the Princess Máxima Center, ensuring centralized care and innovative tools like the KLIK Pain Monitor app, enabling timely support. These efforts demonstrate a commitment to lasting healthcare impact.
In Europe, the Foundation initially focused on short-term aid, but now seeks to support long-term patient outcomes, with initiatives designed to tackle the most pressing regional healthcare needs. For example, in Europe this has involved tackling the continent’s high rates of cardiovascular disease or addressing the increase of breast cancer among women.
One way Philips Foundation has expanded access to quality, equitable heart healthcare in Europe is by providing automatic electronic defibrillators (AEDs) to many communities in need. For example, immediate assistance occurs in less than 30% of cardiac arrest cases in Italy, compared to an EU average of 47%. Some smaller Italian islands have no AEDs in their territory. Additionally, Philips Foundation takes a long-term view of health outcomes, aiming to support not just diagnosis, but also the prevention of conditions before they develop. Despite widespread availability of preventive examinations in Poland, implementation of preventive programs is very low, particularly in rural areas, leading to delay of proper treatment.
In Latin America, the Foundation’s efforts are focused on addressing the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and improving access to primary care.
Initially, Philips Foundation concentrated its efforts on short-term aid. For example, in 2018, the Foundation supported La Liga Contra el Cáncer, a Colombian non-profit, to support a vital campaign that raised awareness for prostate cancer and provided essential resources for screenings. A standout example is the partnership with SAS Brasil, a non-profit organization addressing healthcare challenges in remote regions of Brazil. Together, the SAS Living Lab initiative was created, focusing on digital health education to equip healthcare professionals with skills in remote patient monitoring and imaging.
In Asia Pacific and Japan, the Foundation focused on initiatives that address critical regional healthcare challenges, such as poor heart health and barriers to care in the Asia-Pacific, aiming to achieve sustainable, long-term patient outcomes. The focus can be country-specific too. In Japan, where around 30% of the population is over 65, the Foundation is striving to improve access to quality healthcare for the elderly.
In its early years, Philips Foundation focused on short-term projects and aid. For example, in Japan, it raised awareness around often-neglected health conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), sleep apnoea, and poor oral health by organizing symposia targeted to local needs in different regions of the country. In its later years, as part of a partnership with the World Heart Federation (WHF), a Philips Foundation project targeted a combination of challenges – low disease awareness, lack of healthcare access and treatment, inadequate diagnosis, and inadequate medical training – to drive a comprehensive approach to alleviating the burden of rheumatic heart disease.
In India, Philips Foundation is concentrating on preventive healthcare, early detection, diagnostic solutions, and health education to help reduce the growing burden of disease.
A good example of Philips Foundation’s work in empowering local workers in India is a two-year project in collaboration with Save the Children India, the social enterprise ZMQ Development, and Philips India CSR. The project focused on developing low-cost innovative approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of childhood pneumonia – one of the biggest killers among children in underserved settings worldwide. Looking ahead, Philips Foundation plans to expand its investment portfolio in India, strengthening its commitment to innovative healthcare solutions. In this way, the Foundation will support social entrepreneurs that complement existing healthcare systems by providing early-stage and situation-specific investment.
In every country, the Foundation tailors its efforts to address specific local issues. In China’s rural communities, access to healthcare remains a significant challenge, with fewer doctors, nurses, and hospital beds per person compared to their urban counterparts.
Maternal and child healthcare is a key area in China where significant health disparities exist between urban and rural populations, with preventable neonatal deaths accounting for a staggering 75% of total neonatal deaths in rural areas of China. China has also one of the highest heart disease death rates in the world, accounting for 45% of adult deaths in China. Worryingly, cardiovascular events, such as ischemic heart disease and stroke, are projected to increase by 50% among the population between 2010 and 2030. Due to inequities in access to care, this increase is expected to disproportionately impact rural populations.
Health systems across Sub-Saharan Africa face an array of challenges, including a shortage of health workers, insufficient funding and poor infrastructure. Patients often bear the burden of high out-of-pocket expenses due to inadequate health financing, which further exacerbates the fragmentation of health services.
Philips Foundation has been bridging gaps in maternal care by collaborating with local universities and NGOs such as UNICEF to promote health awareness, timely risk detection, and access to quality medical services. As part of its efforts to improve access to maternal care in Sub-Saharan Africa, Philips Foundation has also been enhancing access to obstetric ultrasound services. In Uganda, Philips Foundation supported Imaging the World Africa in training over 250 healthcare professionals in identifying life-threatening complications. In Kenya, Philips Foundation partnered with Aga Khan University to train midwives, equip health centers, and enhance communication.
The Middle East and Türkiye include countries with varying health system capabilities, where disparities in access to quality healthcare are influenced by economic pressures, education differences, gender inequality, and conflict.
To address these disparities, the Foundation designs targeted programs that respond to urgent health challenges while also strengthening long-term patient outcomes. In Türkiye, for example – where over 13,000 children are born each year with congenital heart conditions – the Foundation is prioritizing initiatives to improve childhood cardiac health. Yemen’s healthcare system has been severely impacted by years of civil war and conflict, leading to a significant increase in maternal and infant mortality rates [2]. To improve access to quality care, Philips Foundation, in partnership with Save the Children, has equipped nine community centers with Philips mobile ultrasound devices and provided training for midwives in the community.