Reproductive Health and Indigenous Peoples: Managing a Quality and Culturally Sensitive Health Delivery for Ayta, Blaans, and Iraya Communities

Dr. Ruben Z. Martinez

Organization for Training Research and Development Foundation (OTRADEV), Inc.

[email protected]/mobile phone - 0915 702 1272

The Ayta of Zambales, Blaan of Sarangani, and Iraya Mangyan of Mindoro are some of the disadvantaged groups that are also referred as the indigenous cultural communities. The Ayta, Blaan, and Iraya, are descent of the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands before the Spanish and the American colonization. They have retained their indigenous identity and culture and have selectively adapted to the culture of the mainstream society. As such, their health belief and behavior are different from the mainstream culture. However, as a result of society's discrimination and bias, they have been marginalized. Ayta, Blaan, and Iraya communities have the highest incidence of maternal mortality and morbidity and their health needs are mostly under served as a result of their low access to health facilities. For these people to maximize the benefits of reproductive health services require that the health provider should understand their health belief and behavior. There is also a need for the health providers to develop service delivery protocol that is culturally sensitive. Through the understanding of their traditional health providers such as the Marayaw or shaman, indigenous health knowledge and practice, and their traditional social organizations, health providers can also tap into traditional health resources that can be used in the designing and managing culturally sensitized reproductive health services.

The proposed presentation provides illustrative case samples of developing and managing culturally sensitive health services. It is based on OTRADEV's experience in implementing health program and the author's cumulative field researches in Olongapo, Zambales, Sarangani and South Cotabato, Mindanao; Baco, San Teodoro, and Puerto Galera of Oriental Mindoro, and Abra de Ilog in Occidental Mindoro from 1983 to 1999.