Poor patients: "delays in access to care increase"

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recyclinage
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Poor patients: "delays in access to care increase"




by recyclinage » 18/10/09, 11:12

Access to care should not become a privilege, it is a fundamental right. It is worth remembering when reading the annual report of Doctors of the World on access to healthcare for the poorest populations, published today (Download in pdf). A barometer which has a particular resonance this year, ten years after the creation of the Universal Health Cover (CMU) and State Medical Aid (AME) for foreigners in an irregular situation. Two devices supposed to guarantee the right to health for all. Yet ten years later, progress remains to be made.

"The real problem today is access to rights," says Dr. Olivier Bernard, the president of Médecins du Monde. 8 out of 10 patients that we receive in our centers have no health insurance when they are entitled to it! ”Why? Lack of information and knowledge of the devices, first. In fact, the CMU device, intended for 6 million people, today only affects 4,8 million patients. “Administrative procedures are becoming more and more complicated. For example, to benefit from the free supplement, you must apply in addition to the basic CMU ... ", explains Dr. Jeannine Rochefort, head of the Reception, Care and Orientation Center (Caso) of Saint-Denis, one of the 22 Doctors of the World branches dispatched to the area. In total, nearly 25.000 poor patients were cared for in these centers last year: "we treat them, we help them to open their rights and we redirect them towards the traditional medical system", summarizes a volunteer.
Fear of whistleblowing

To the administrative complexity is often added the language barrier. 80% of the patients treated in the Casos are foreigners in an irregular situation. Most are unaware that they can benefit from State medical aid from the third month spent in France. Worst. "Even those who know their rights do not come easily, they are afraid of denunciations," laments Olivier Bernard. “This is an observation, made by our field teams, on a daily basis. There is pressure on potential beneficiaries. For example, in Marseille, there is a regular police bus at the corner of the street, near the center ... "

Suddenly, undocumented migrants hesitate to cross the door of the centers, and reject the opening of their rights. They wait until the last moment to get treatment. This is the second cause for concern, pointed out this morning at the press conference. "Late recourse to care is increasing, representing 18% of consultations in 2008 (against 11% in 2007)", underlines the president. Dr. Claude Martine, head of the reception center in Paris, insists on the economic and health "absurdity" of such a situation: "Patients actually come with serious pathologies and therefore costly to take care of ... Much more than if they had been taken care of earlier. The barriers to accessing care are really irrational. ”

More generally, the representatives of Doctors of the World present this morning at the press conference, vehemently denounced the context of ambient repression. And the obstacles to humanitarian action on the ground, which have become common currency in recent months. Last example to date: the expulsion of migrants in Calais in the midst of an epidemic of scabies, making the work of volunteer doctors very difficult, expulsions resulting in breakdowns of care.

Tomorrow, the president of the NGO, Olivier Bernard will meet the Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot. With a pile of demands under his arm and a slogan: "Health cannot be subject to security alone."


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