The Impact of Medical Illness Repatriation to Filipino Seafarers

Medical illness among Filipino seafarers has resulted to repatriation cases. Thus, this study narratively captured the experiences of the eight (8) medically repatriated participants to understand the impact of repatriation on them. Using a validated interview guide, this study determined the common categories of the participants’ illness, the factors that led to their repatriation, the impact on their life, career, and finances, as well as their coping mechanisms. It was revealed that gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal disorders have been the most common illness of the participants wherein personal characteristics, management style, and physical environment are found to be the perceived causes of their health condition. Moreover, findings show that their repatriation due to medical illness has significant impact to their lives, careers, and finances. However, their resilience and ability to adapt helped them overcome these problems, through diversification of income sources, skill enhancement and career transition, as well as prioritizing their physical health and well-being. Out of the eight participants, seven were declared fit to work after treatment and were given a chance to be re-hired again by their last manning agency. Highly focused recommendations were also provided for the seafarers, the Philippine government, and manning agencies. Among them are healthy living choices, strict implementation of ILO MLC 2006 regulation on hours of work and rest, free HMO provisions from manning agencies, as well as resilience and financial literacy training.