Gregorio, Gillian D.L.

The Philippines is a culturally diverse country which is composed of almost a hundred and twenty
ethnic-linguistic groups generally subsiding in various far-flung areas. Cultural diversity has its
own advantages including innovation, productivity, and openness, if it is done with the proper
mindset and actions that embraces a diverse culture (University of the People, n.d.). However, this
is not the case with the indigenous people of the Philippines, a country where the ‘odd one out’
mindset is fostering. Diversity creates a barrier between the indigenous and non-indigenous
communities especially when these indigenous people are venturing on urban areas where they
usually get every form of discrimination.

Out of the many challenges and hardships that indigenous people encounter just by going out of
their community, discrimination is the most prevalent. Discrimination has played a noteworthy
part, in turning the lives of indigenous people upside down, from the time when the West colonized
modern civilizations. Due to this, the individual and collective rights of Indigenous people are
endlessly abused which leads to them having limited access to economic and social benefits. This
is what members of indigenous communities must live through every day and it is unsettling to
think that it is still happening up until this very moment. Indeed, something must be done to address
this issue and the government must prioritize anti-discrimination projects, movements, and
advocacies.

As discussed in the previous paragraph, the members are frequently denied of having access to
economic and social benefits. One of these benefits and probably the most relevant is their access
on health care. As stated by Wylie & McConkey (2019), discrimination in the health care system
is considered a root cause for all the discriminations, in terms of health care, that exist among
Indigenous peoples. Having such experience wherein they are denied of even the basic healthcare
rights, discourage Indigenous people from accessing care. Knowing the rich and preserved culture
of indigenous communities, they have access to their very own health care facilities, especially
where they have people with assigned roles as their health care provider with their traditional
medicines. However, in terms of their access to mainstream hospitals and health centers, it is
extremely inadequate especially those living in remote areas (Corpuz, 2020). Knowing that most
of them has little to no access to health care institutions in their area, they would travel miles just
to get to the nearby hospital wherein they usually face the discrimination.
All things considered, in order to improve health care access for members of indigenous
communities, we have to go further than merely making health services more hospitable and
inclusive. The problem needs to be addressed all over the health care system as part of a quality
improvement strategy (Wiley & McConkey, 2019). This will involve not only a major shift in the
mindsets, understanding, and abilities of health care practitioners, but also the creation of liabilities
for health care groups to guarantee fair health services for indigenous communities.

Being part of an indigenous community while being a person who must venture out of your comfort
place for some essential reasons is a lot to take in. Imagine facing all kinds of discrimination and
denials on access of proper economic and social benefits. In the end, we are all humans with
different cultural beliefs. This all boils down to respect, believing in equity, and change of mindset.

References:

University of the People (2020). What is cultural diversity and why is it important.
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/what-is-cultural-diversity/

Wylie, L., McConkey, S. Insiders’ Insight: Discrimination against Indigenous Peoples through
the Eyes of Health Care Professionals. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 6, 37–45 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-018-0495-9

Corpuz, J. (2020). FEU Public Intellectual Lecture Series [Video]. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGg7sUx_NvA&t=273s