A man denied eye
surgery to prevent blindness. A man with symptoms of tuberculosis denied an
X-ray. A woman denied asthma medication, resulting in a costly ER visit and
hospitalization.
These are some of the results of the Harper government’s
cuts to refugee health care over the past year. According to Dr. Meb Rashid, medical director of
the Crossroads Clinic at Women's College Hospital. “The patients we see
have fled unimaginable terror to seek a safer life in Canada, and our
government is telling doctors that they cannot provide necessary
treatment.”
On April 25 of last year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
announced drastic cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program, implemented on
June 30. Kenney claimed the cuts would be fair, save money and protect public
health—and all these claims were bogus. As the Canadian Council for Refugees immediately predicted, the
cuts would create a two-tier system of refugee care, deny essential medical
care, institutionalize gender discrimination and offload costs to the
provinces. That’s exactly what has happened.
A six year old child
denied tests for urinary tract infection. A pregnant woman fleeing the sex
trade denied tests. A sexual violence survivor denied PTSD treatment.
But what could not have been predicted was the massive
outrage from the medical community, beginning May
11, 2012 with occupations
of Tory offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, a rally in Ottawa and press conference
in other cities. This launched Canadian
Doctors for Refugee Care (CDRC). Then on May 18 an open letter condemning
the cuts was signed by national associations representing optometrists, nurses,
doctors, social workers, dentists, pharmacists, and family physicians.
On June
18 last year, health providers organized a day of action with rallies in a
dozen cities across the country—from Inuvik to Vancouver to St. John’s—opposing
the cuts and the way they are being used to scapegoat refugees for broader cuts
to healthcare. As Dr. Mark
Tyndall said at the Ottawa
press conference, "the government
has used this issue to divide Canadians, pitting those who are dissatisfied
with their own health coverage against refugees. Canadians are smarter than
this. This is an attack on our entire healthcare system." Through the
summer health providers continued to challenge government
officials, while 17 year-old Bashir
Mohamed directly challenged Jason Kenney.
While
the government quietly reversed a small number of the cuts under pressure from
protests, Kenney posted a shameless
petition on his own website congratulating himself for the cuts, refused to
document the impact of the cuts, and dismissed all evidence collected by CDRC of
people who have suffered as a result of the cuts. Meanwhile the cuts are having
their intended consequences. According to Dr. Philip Berger, Chief of Family
and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital, “we advised the government
from the beginning that these program cuts would reduce care, increase costs to
other areas of the health system and needlessly threaten public safety, and
regrettably, this is exactly what our colleagues are seeing in clinics and
hospitals across Canada.”
A child of a refugee applicant denied
immunizations. A teenager with PTSD and suicide attempts denied medication. A
young girl with fever denied investigations for malaria.
Opposition to the cuts has
continued to grow. On December 15 resident physicians organized vigils to
protest the “Designated
Country of Origin” list that deprives health care from refugee claimants
from countries arbitrarily labeled “safe”. In February CDRC and the Canadian
Association of Refugee Lawyers launched a constitutional
challenge. This Monday, June 17, is a second
day of action, taking place in 19 cities: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary,
Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Windsor, London,
Kitchener, Guelph, Hamilton, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and
St. John’s.
June 17 will be an
important mobilization for all those who oppose the cuts to refugee health, and
momentum is building. UofT and McGill faculties of medicine are facilitating
learner participation. Health providers from across the country and around the
world are participating in a photo campaign, posted on CDRC’s facebook page. Over 50
prominent writers and artists—including Margaret Atwood, Adrienne Clarkson,
Shirley Douglas, Jian Ghomeshi, Naomi Klein, Vincent Lam and Kiefer Sutherland—have
signed an open letter: “We call on the federal government to reverse these
health cuts and restore our country’s humanitarian tradition of providing
care to refugees. On June 17th, please join us and Canadian Doctors
for Refugee Care in participating in a National Day of Action. There are
events taking place in cities across the country. To learn more, please
visit www.doctorsforrefugeecare.ca.”
See you in the streets.
