Filipino migrant workers experienced health problems due to bad work conditions - excessive and physically taxing labor, insufficient and unhealthy food, chemical exposure, and depression because of extended family separation. Many of them are not eligible for public health care due to being undocumented and few receive health insurance from their employers.
In 2005, Damayan launched “Health is a Basic Human Right”, a multi-year program in partnership with Filipino health associations and professionals that provided free health screenings, mammograms, one-on-one consultation with doctors, and referrals to specialists. Many undocumented and uninsured Filipino migrant workers, especially women, availed of the services.