New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released last week that South African medical professionals were routinely denying health care and treatment to thousands of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants the majority of whom are Zimbabweans. The group noted that South Africa's foreign-born residents, who are
particularly vulnerable to disease and injury, faced xenophobic violence as well as systematic discrimination in obtaining basic care.
Those who do seek treatment are often mistreated and verbally abused by health care workers and denied care or charged unlawful fees.
It noted that Zimbabwean migrants were hardest affected by the healthcare xenophobia because they often lacked documentation, basic information and financial resources. Some of the Zimbabwean immigrants interviewed said they have been openly told by nurses and other medical staff in South Africa to return to their home country because they were depriving locals of healthcare. An estimated three million Zimbabweans are believed to be staying in South Africa after escaping economic hardships and political persecution at home since 2000.
HRW said rape survivors are forced by South African medical personnel to file police reports before they get emergency medical treatment but are usually afraid of deportation to follow this procedure.
According to the report, permanent disabilities resulting from xenophobic violence against migrants are being compounded by xenophobic discrimination in healthcare settings. The delayed, interrupted or denied treatment of migrant health threatens to further strain South Africa's already stretched health system. To resolve the issue of institutionalised healthcare xenophobia, HRW urged South Africas Department of Health to enforce its equal access policies through improved training, reporting, and accountability measures.
South African health authorities should also develop prevention and treatment programmes for mobile and migrant populations, providing improved access to health and rights-related information, as well as cross-border treatment initiatives.
It also called on the Department of Home Affairs to implement the proposed special dispensation permit for Zimbabweans which would ease the fear of deportation that serves as a major barrier to care for many undocumented migrants.
Post published in: Health