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Cultural beliefs on disease causation in the Philippines: challenge and implications in genetic counseling

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Abstract

The provision of culturally competent health care is an important professional issue recognized by the pioneer genetic counselors in the Philippines. Being an archipelago consisting of 7,107 islands, the Philippines has approximately 175 ethnolinguistic groups with their own unique cultural identity and health practices. The emphasis on culture in our genetic counseling training recognizes its crucial role in molding an individual’s conceptualization of health, as well as other life aspects, especially since the Filipino culture is a mixture of indigenous as well as imported and borrowed elements. As part of this endeavor, we will describe in this paper seven common Filipino cultural beliefs: namamana, lihi, sumpa, gaba, pasma, namaligno, and kaloob ng Diyos. We will also share examples on how these common beliefs provide explanation as cause of illness and its implications in our genetic counseling profession.

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Acknowledgments

Mercy Ygona Laurino would like to acknowledge the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST). She is a 2012, 2013 and 2014 grant recipient of the DOST Balik Scientist Program.

Conflict of interest

Peter James Abad, Michael Tan, Vanessa Dyan Aldemita, Melissa Mae Baluyot, Ma. Elouisa Reyes, Riza Suarez, Aster Lynn Sur, Gay Luz Talapian, Angela Villa, Carmencita Padilla, and Mercy Laurino declare that they have no conflict of interest.

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines

    Peter James B. Abad

  2. College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

    Michael L. Tan

  3. Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines

    Peter James B. Abad, Melissa Mae P. Baluyot, Angela Q. Villa, Gay Luz Talapian, Ma. Elouisa Reyes, Riza Concordia Suarez, Aster Lynn D. Sur, Vanessa Dyan R. Aldemita, Carmencita David Padilla & Mercy Ygona Laurino

  4. Newborn Screening Reference Center, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines

    Ma. Elouisa Reyes, Riza Concordia Suarez & Carmencita David Padilla

  5. Institute of Human Genetics, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines

    Melissa Mae P. Baluyot, Angela Q. Villa, Aster Lynn D. Sur, Carmencita David Padilla & Mercy Ygona Laurino

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines

    Gay Luz Talapian

  7. Institute for Public Health Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

    Mercy Ygona Laurino

Authors
  1. Peter James B. Abad
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  2. Michael L. Tan
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  3. Melissa Mae P. Baluyot
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  4. Angela Q. Villa
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  5. Gay Luz Talapian
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  6. Ma. Elouisa Reyes
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  7. Riza Concordia Suarez
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  9. Vanessa Dyan R. Aldemita
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  10. Carmencita David Padilla
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  11. Mercy Ygona Laurino
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Correspondence to Peter James B. Abad.

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Abad, P.J.B., Tan, M.L., Baluyot, M.M.P. et al. Cultural beliefs on disease causation in the Philippines: challenge and implications in genetic counseling. J Community Genet 5, 399–407 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-014-0193-1

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