ADVOCACY

Out of 106. 7 million people in the Philippines, 15% of it consist of the people that are common in the
name of “indigenous and marginalized people”, they are the people whom are very poor to be
privileged to have healthcare centers near their areas, to be privileged to have the things or experience
things that are beyond on what they only know. They are the unfortunate people who lives in the
secluded areas like mountains, forest and other areas. Indigenous people like Aetas, Mangyans, Igorots
and many more are the mostly-known groups in the country that are still way too pure for the
advancements that were made for the past years in the local areas.

Many people nowadays are really into taking care of their health, adding the fact that the pandemic is
still spreading all across the globe especially in our country. But shouldn’t we ask, what about those
indigenous people? How can they ask for help in times like this, when there is no running program for
them that can be beneficial for them to live their lives longer? How can they live, when a simple wish of
healthcare facilities near their area is still not granted until now? How?

Health Care Centers or Medical Facilities is any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities
range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate
emergency rooms and trauma centers. And it is very rare in places like where indigenous people lives,
reasons are it is not profitable and practical for medical company owners to build facilities there as there
are no people who can afford their medical fees and it may affect their hospitals or clinic. And that
makes it hard for those marginalized people to get help when they are experiencing different kinds of
diseases. According to the data, 9 out of 15 people from areas like mountains and faraway places dies
upon arrival in the hospitals, because of not having near healthcare centers that may check up on
them, it takes too much time and those who have sickness just stay inside their houses because there is
no medical centers that they may get help to without not knowing that their diseases may get severe as
time passes.

Indigenous peoples often find it difficult to access appropriate mainstream

primary health care services. Securing access to primary health care services
requires more than just services that are situated within easy reach. Ensuring
the accessibility of health care for Indigenous peoples who are often faced with
a vast array of additional barriers including experiences of discrimination and
racism, can be complex. Ensuring access to primary health care is widely
accepted as key to improving health outcomes. In the case of Indigenous
populations living with high rates of chronic disease, access to these services is
even more crucial. Even in developed countries such as Australia, the number
of Indigenous peoples dying from cardiovascular disease is 1.5 times that of
their non-Indigenous counterparts. Despite this, Indigenous peoples are often
prevented from accessing these types of services due to a range of barriers
including the high cost of health care, experiences of discrimination and
racism and poor communication with health care professionals. Evidence
suggests that access to primary health care can be improved when services are
tailored to the needs of, or owned and managed by Indigenous communities
themselves. This is because Indigenous health care services are more likely to
be free of racism and are generally more culturally appropriate than
mainstream services. They also tend to employ Indigenous staff who are able
to speak the local language and are often known by people accessing the
service.
And even though this kind of facilities is much needed by the indigenous people, especially for those
who are very old and having different kinds of diseases, the government are still turning deaf to these
problems. The lack of knowledge about the right medical practices and doings makes people from this
groups become too behind and all that they just believe is what they have known for more than years.
That is why, providing a better healthcare facilities and assistance near the areas of the marginalized and
indigenous people will surely be beneficial to them, because they will not only get to be checked-up at
least once a month but they can be treated as soon as possible if they are suffering from diseases.

Providing a better healthcare centers to the marginalized and indigenous people will surely help, the
ones that is nearer to them and can fully help them to their needs. It is also because, lack of this needed
centers sometimes results to those people who have sickness to die while on their way to the hospitals.
The time where it should be allotted for curing those people goes to the time for travelling to the areas
who have medical facilities. As this is one of the problems that most people from far away areas like
indigenous people, it will be very beneficial to them as they don’t have to go to far areas anymore.

“A better healthcare centers means a better life for them.”

CAMPAIGN

Human rights are one of the most important thing that a certain person can hold onto when
they are too discriminated, physically abuse and all, their rights are what people believe into to live and
be free. In this campaign, protecting the rights of those marginalized people who are not being focused
onto by the government means saving them, saving them from another blow of hurtful words, racism
and many more. With the campaign of protecting their rights as a human, as one of the people from the
Republic of the Philippines, we can at least save them. Save and protect them at least to be given the
things they deserve especially for their health. Giving them a better healthcare assistance and providing
them the things they need in making their health in good condition. Protecting their rights, will mean
just one thing, they will be at least be given the facilities they need to live longer. Also in this campaign, I
want to create awareness on how hard indigenous people are living especially when they need medical
assistance as soon as possible but was not granted to have it, I want people to know that providing them
their medical needs regardless of the skin and tradition they have would be really helpful. By helping
them to have this needs, we can help them live their life to the fullest. Indigenous people are one of the
most important people in our country, as they are the one who are preserving our cultures and tradition
that is why by these things we can at least give back the goodness to them because that is what they
deserve.