[Talk] Health Leadership Summit - Medical Anthropology and Universal Health Care

On December 3, 2018, the Ateneo Professional Schools (APS) and Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health) organized a conference on Universal Healthcare (UHC), entitled Health Leadership Summit 2018: Universal Healthcare at the Ateneo Professional Schools Auditorium, Rockwell Center, Rockwell Drive, Makati City.

As one of the speakers, I gave a talk on "how medical anthropology can contribute towards health for all Filipinos". I gave three roles for anthropology and for the social sciences in general - namely, (1)  identifying gaps in the so-called three dimensions of coverage (2) informing the kind of healthcare in UHC; and (3) evaluating and critiquing ‘UHC’ and document its ‘lived effects’.

As the country moves towards health reforms, it is of vital importance that social scientists engage with the medical communities to make sure that the voices of patients and laypersons are heard and listened to - as to what kind of 'health' we're really talking about when we speak of UHC.