Clinic for foreigners without documents to be run by volunteer doctors
Global Clinic to open in February at an undisclosed location
|
|
|
By Pipsa Palttala
Foreign citizens who are in Finland illegally will soon have access to health care at a secret medical clinic.
The plans were announced in an article in Lääkärilehti, the journal of the Finnish Medical Association.
Victims of human trafficking, and other undocumented foreigners living in Finland often lack the money, or the nerve to seek medical help when they need it.
“It is completely inhumane that a group of people are excluded from all assistance. It is a doctor’s obligation to help people regardless of their status”, says Pekka Tuomola, the director of substance abuse and mental health services of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute.
Tuomola says that patients can include asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, those in the country without visas, and victims of human trafficking.
Roma from Romania can also come to the clinic, even though they are EU citizens and officially in Finland as tourists.
“The Roma often are not registered as residents in their home countries, so they do not have a European sickness insurance card, and are therefore not eligible for health care services in Finland”, Tuomola says.
The model for the Global Clinic is from Sweden, where a total of seven clinics for undocumented aliens operate around the country.
The premises, equipment, and medicines for the Global Clinic, which opens in February, will be provided by the Deaconess Institute. In other respects, the clinic will be entirely run by volunteers.
So far, about 30 doctors and other volunteers have signed up for the project. One of them is Elina Ahvenus, a psychiatrist working at the Deaconess Institute.
“There should not be any people in Finland who do not get help for their illness”, she says.
“As a psychiatrist I am more in an advisory role. I believe that many of these people need someone to talk to about their difficult and stressful situations.”
At least at first the clinic will only be able to offer services of a general practitioner. Gradually, the aim is to set up a network of specialists as well.
The clinic is to operate on one day a week for a few hours at a time. The location is to be kept a secret, in order to keep the threshold to seeking medical assistance as low as possible.
Ahvenus puts a priority on guaranteeing the security of both patients and volunteers.
“This is completely legal activity, so there is no need to fear any action on the part of officials, but there could be groups of people who do not like it that we help foreigners.”
Tuomola says that discussions with police are still taking place.
“The police have not yet voiced support or opposition. We believe that this activity is in their interests too. If it is not to the liking of the police, it will wither away.”
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 29.1.2011
PIPSA PALTTALA / Helsingin Sanomat
pipsa.palttala@hs.fi
|
| 1.2.2011 - THIS WEEK |
 Clinic for foreigners without documents to be run by volunteer doctors |
|
