Members of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority (EM) communities often struggle to access affordable and high quality healthcare. For Pakistani Hongkonger case manager Laila, the Fellowship is a way to help her learn more about the field beyond her personal experiences, and work towards her goal of making health industry jobs accessible to EMs.

Laila is passionate about improving access to health among members of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority (EM) communities. To her, Hong Kong is a second home, and she hopes to see the city embrace its multiculturalism and make diversity and inclusion a priority when it comes to health.

Ten years ago, Laila came to Hong Kong and witnessed how her mother, as well as other members from the community, struggled to access health services because of language barriers. Despite a large EM population, there remains a lack of adequate interpretation services to cater to diverse patients. Since then, she has been motivated to ensure that others do not face the same challenges she has when trying to access healthcare.

After graduation, she worked with Hong Kong Christian Service, where she helped EM mothers and kindergarten students improve their communication skills. She also briefly joined The Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention to empower others with information about their health rights. She is currently a Case Worker in Health In Action, an organization that aims to promote health equity and enhance everyone’s rights to healthcare through workshops and seminars. She hopes to increase health literacy, encourage members from the ethnic minority community to work in healthcare access, and create systemic change to better support people in recovery.

At her work, Laila deeply understood how marginalized communities face different challenges in terms of getting medical services. She has seen many people delay seeking medical help, often because of language barriers and communication difficulties, which has a negative impact on health outcomes and further marginalizes an already sidelined community. To better comprehend community needs and brainstorm solutions, she was compelled to join the Fellowship, so that she can get to connect with like-minded individuals who are ambassadors of rights to health. By collaborating with other Fellows, they can all work together to empower more people to know their health rights and encourage more people to entrust working on health care and narrowing the gap between marginalized communities and the society.

In her free time Laila reads books, plays sports, and spends time with her family.