Read on Twitter
Mga ka-baro sa med school, bigyan ng konting leeway ang mga ibang med students na seemingly di makuha ang link pa rin between health and politics. Yes, tinuturo ang ganito sa FCM classes namin, pero not in the same way as it was taught in public medical schools (1)
The interplay of politics and health/medicine as taught in private med schools is only reduced to the Alma Ata Declaration, the relationship of the MHO, the role of DOH, PhilHealth, etc. It does not go beyond that. And if anyone tries to dig deeper, they& #39;re silenced. (2)
E.g. In class, I tried to link the issue of Kaliwa/Kanan Dam to adverse health effects of the indigenous peoples living in their ancestral lands. Of course, politics will be mentioned and elaborated, and as I was explaining I was shushed by the prof for being too political (3)
Another is on the issue of the right to housing. The professor used the Kadamay "issue" of occupying the stale houses in Pandi, Bulacan, as the "wrong" way of achieving it, and I explained that the actions of Kadamay were justified and right, and again I was shushed (4)
Maraming beses na kinakantiyawan ako ng mga prof sa loob ng mga department offices kung ano ang tingin/basa ko sa mga nangyayaring political issues na involved ang health, only to be laughed at in the end. (5)
Limitado rin naman ang exposures ng mga nagtuturo sa ganyan. I bet very few profs have truly experienced community organizing in its truest, raw form; kadalasan part lang ng requirement sa school, rotation, or residency. And this is me speaking as a public health major. (6)
Kaya when med students are presented with examples on the very close relationship of health and politics, like & #39;Ang Kuwento ni Rosario& #39;, they are usually shocked at how it is THAT intertwined, that something as personal as health is INDEED POLITICAL. (7)
So when we meet another ka-baro na para sa kanya magkalayo ang isyung pangkalusugan sa isyung panlipunan, extend a little more grace. Adopt natin ang mode ng tireless persuasion. Mahirap talaga. Pero sa ganitong panahon, we ought to be making more allies vs one big enemy.
