Switzerland

Latest Operational Update: December 2007

Field Staff: 7

Reason for Intervention:

Social Violence/Healthcare exclusion

In january 2006, MSF launched the ‘Meditrina’ project in Zurich. Free consultations are provided to anyone who has no access to the public health services because they have no medical insurance or the means to pay for medical consultations and treatment.

The center has focused primarily on undocumented foreign nationals living in unstable circumstances and unable to access medical care through the Swiss healthcare system. Homeless people and asylum seekers have also used the service. Gynecological and dental problems, as well as diseases of the skeletal system, are the most common complaints. By December, some 70 consultations a month were being provided.

Free consultations are provided to anyone who has no access to the public health services.

Nine community ‘mediators’ of various nationalities have been integrated into the community of migrants living and working in Zurich. These mediators have taken on the role of raising awareness of this free service.

The Meditrina service now offers HIV counseling and voluntary screening. As with the detection of other medical conditions requiring more specialized treatment, patients may be directed towards other local medical facilities after their initial examination. Meditrina works with a network of national doctors, chemists, hospitals and laboratories to ensure consultations and to enable such referrals.

MSF has worked in Switzerland since 2003.