DESPITE being diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, overseas Filipino workers Miriam and Gerry (not their real names) are not losing hope. In fact, they’re even spreading optimism through communities of people that have the same condition.

In 1994, Miriam learned that she was positive for HIV. At that time, she was afraid people would shun her and that she would become isolated. Thus she did not seek medication until 2006 when she started feeling very weak. Miriam was initially diagnosed with Myoma. She was supposed to undergo an operation when doctors decided against the procedure when they learned she has HIV.

Miriam later learned from a non-government organization that her rights were violated when she was refused to be operated on. But she also learned that people with HIV continue to suffer the stigma from a society who knows very little about their condition.

“Naging maliwanag sa akin na nagkaroon talaga ng discrimination. Nalabag talaga ang aking karapatan na makakuha ng serbisyo doon sa hospital. [I realized that discrimination happened. My rights to get service from the hospital were violated.],” said Miriam.

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By Janie Octia
INQUIRER.net

QUEZON City, Philippines – Medical board exam topnotcher Marlon Garcia always wanted to become a doctor.

“I learned to love the profession as I was studying and I got to interact with the patients,” said the 26-year-old Garcia who finds the Anatomy and Surgery part of the board exam the hardest.

Watch this video interview with Garcia:

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Garcia said the country suffers from the unequal distribution of qualified doctors and the lack of adequate facilities to perform medical procedures.

He said most of the doctors are located in the city while far-flung provinces are in dire need of more doctors.
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VIVIAN D. CASTILLO, clinical director of Feel Better Rehab, specializes in Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT). Castillo, who happens to be a Filipina, demonstrates how she relieves pain from patient Ruth Millan. Developed by Dr. Sharon Giammatteo, IMT is a holistic and non-invasive approach to assessing and treating pain, dysfunction, disease and disability.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla in Orange County, California.

By Rafael Castillo, MD
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Just when I thought that Filipino doctors have forgotten their solemn oath “to serve humanity to the best of my ability,” and just when I thought that Filipino doctors have no qualms of giving up their medical profession for the prospect of earning green bucks abroad, Dr. Rogie Tanco, the cardiologist-editor of The Filipino Internist, reminds me of the Filipino medical volunteers of the Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF (Doctors Without Borders), who serve in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic and pandemic diseases.

The MSF is a Nobel Peace Prize awardee and annually, it recruits about 3,000 doctors, nurses, midwives and logisticians to provide health care in more than 70 underserved developing countries. A good number of these volunteers are Filipinos. “These doctors and other volunteers are unsung heroes,” Rogie told me.

Filipino volunteer

Among these volunteers is Dr. Elpidio Demetria, a board certified internist and infectious disease expert previously of San Lazaro Hospital. Before volunteering for MSF, Elpidio signed up with the Philippine medical contingent to Iraq.

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