Majority of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) deployed to Americas (92%), Asia (80%), Europe (70%) and the Middle East (56%) said that they never experienced health problems before leaving the country.
This is why researchers from the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) urged the government to conduct country-specific health programs for departing OFWs.
“Hypertension is due to excessive intake of salty food; stress; lack of sleep; and fatigue. Digestive problems are due to irregular meal intake especially for domestic workers, (who) wait for their employers to eat first, and only then can they eat… urinary problems (could be due to) limited water supply in the Middle East and inaccessible toilets,” the NRCP told Business World.
Researchers based their study on the medical claims made by OFWs at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Domestic workers topped the list of making OWWA medical claims, with most of them based in the Middle East.
The study revealed that OFWs get illnesses based on their occupation.
26% of household domestic workers reported experiencing reproductive diseases and 35% of service workers reported cardiovascular diseases.
Urinary diseases are being experienced by about 31% of technicians and electricians.
