Covid-19: Filipino caregivers hit hard by pandemic around the world
Audio 02:26
A fresco in tribute to Filipino healthcare workers, February 22, 2021 in Manila.
© AP / Aaron Favila
By: Manon Tomzig
6 min
Almost a third of nurses who died from Covid-19 in the United States were from the Philippines.
Half, in Wales.
In October, fearing a shortage in Filipino hospitals, the president drastically limited the number of caregivers allowed to go abroad to work.
Publicity
From our correspondent in Manila
,
Ding's brother, Faustin, worked as a nurse in a respiratory intensive care unit at a hospital in Dallas, United States.
He practiced for twenty years.
He died last December.
He was 56 years old.
“
He was treating the most serious Covid-19 cases at the hospital he worked in.
He had sent me photos showing him wearing double protection.
But just two weeks before the vaccine was available, he contracted the virus and died,
”says Ding Velasco.
Faustin was a great support for their family.
“
He regularly sent money to our mother.
He was really a good man
, ”he adds.
►
To read also
: Covid-19, the United States facing a worrying new outbreak of cases
Caregivers on the front line
Like Faustin, many Filipino caregivers work overseas.
According to Catherine Ceniza Choy, professor of ethnic studies at the University of Berkeley, countries that lack caregivers are turning to the Philippines because of their health system based on the American model.
“
The United States colonized the Philippines from 1898 to 1946. To justify this colonization, they implemented a policy of benevolent assimilation, including the establishment of medical training modeled on the American model.
This training, coupled with a perfect command of English, prepared Filipino caregivers for work in the United States and other countries,
”she explains.
According to the researcher, they are particularly affected because they are often on the front line.
“
They are concentrated in specific areas of hospitals: in emergency rooms, in intensive care units and at the bedside
,” notes Catherine Ceniza Choy.
Lack of opportunities in the Philippines deplored
After banning them from leaving the country, the Philippine government has set the number of caregivers allowed to work abroad at 5,000 per year.
A limitation deplored by Reigner Antiquera, president of an association of young carers.
"
It is the lack of opportunities and difficult working conditions, which sometimes lead to exploitation, that push Filipino nurses to leave their country,
" says Reigner Antiquera.
Then to add: “
To this are added today the consequences of the pandemic.
There are not enough caregivers and there is a lack of medical equipment, including protection.
They are even sometimes victims of discrimination.
"
►
Read also
: Coronavirus in the Philippines, the cry of alarm from nursing staff to President Duterte
In the Philippines, the average salary for a nurse is less than 200 euros per month.
So despite the risk of the pandemic, many of them continue to want to go and work abroad.
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