Adrienne Silnicki, Angela Giles and Ali Vervaeke at the June 17 rally in Halifax against cuts to refugee care.
CTV reports, “Sue Grafe, a nurse practitioner with the Hamilton Centre for Newcomer Health (HNCH), receives refugee patients who under current government law are ineligible for basic health care. ‘I want (Canadians) to know it’s not about the extras, it’s about the basics that are being denied’, Grafe told CTV News.”
The article gives examples:
– “A Hungarian woman who fled her home country and is waiting for her refugee hearing has learned that she is pregnant, but the staff at HNCH are unable to check her for a fetal heartbeat. The woman is not eligible for insurance to cover an ultrasound, and she is not eligible for health care in Canada. ‘We don’t know if it’s an issue of fetal demise, meaning that the baby has passed away’, Grafe said. Through an interpreter the Hungarian woman said that she is sad and upset because she doesn’t know what is going on with her baby.”
– “Inside the Hamilton clinic, CTV found a 3-year-old girl and her mother, also Hungarian refugees, awaiting treatment. The mother said that both her legs were broken in Hungary, and the family was attacked because of their Roma background. Nurses believe the little girl is a case of ‘failure to thrive’, which could mean allergies, or iron deficiency which could affect brain growth. Without blood tests or X-rays, nurses will not know for sure. ‘We don’t know what will happen if somebody gets sick’, said the mother through an interpreter.”
In a recent blog, Council of Canadians health care campaigner Adrienne Silnicki wrote, “On June 17, we joined with hundreds of health care professionals, lawyers, and refugee rights activists to protest the government’s discriminatory cuts to health care for refugees. While the Harper government has said government-sponsored refugees would receive physician care, refugees from countries deemed ’safe’ do not receive primary physician care, medical assistance during childbirth, medically necessary medication, vision care, dental care, mental health care, and so on. This has left refugees completely vulnerable. Many refugees enter this country after fleeing torture, terror and extreme violence. They cannot afford expensive medical treatment.”
She adds, “My message to Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada is straightforward: if you won’t make the necessary changes to the Interim Federal Health programme, I look forward to the day in 2015 when you’re on my doorstep asking for my vote.”
For more, please read:
The Right to Care for Refugees
UPDATE: Council supports day of action against cuts to health care for refugees, June 17
Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care
