Can healthcare workers really afford to be “apolitical” anymore?
As someone in healthcare, I genuinely don’t understand how some doctors or HCWs still proudly describe themselves as “apolitical,” especially after seeing firsthand how deeply politics affects health outcomes.
We literally see patients suffer because of failed systems: • Patients delaying consults because they can’t afford labs or meds • Government hospitals lacking manpower and supplies • Residents and nurses being overworked and underpaid • Rural communities with barely any access to healthcare • Preventable deaths caused by poverty, misinformation, and corruption
How can anyone witness all of that and still say: “Politics doesn’t affect me.”
Healthcare is political whether we admit it or not. Public health funding, PhilHealth issues, reproductive healthcare access, hospital budgets, vaccination programs, food security, environmental policies — these are all political decisions that directly affect whether patients live or die.
And honestly, what confuses me even more are doctors or HCWs who have seen the worst parts of the healthcare system up close yet still strongly identify as DDS.
I’m not even asking this to start a fight. I’m genuinely curious how they reconcile: • seeing systemic healthcare failures every day with • continuing to support leaders associated with corruption, misinformation, or policies many believe worsened these problems.
At some point, doesn’t “being apolitical” become a form of privilege or avoidance?
Would love to hear thoughts from other healthcare workers here.