The Leader 434

Page 1

No 434

Monday, 3rd September, 2012

Tel: 96 673 0057

DOCTORS SAY THEY WILL DEFY SPANISH GOVERNMENT

From 1 September, doctors working in the public health service in the region of Valencia who object to the removal of free healthcare services for undocumented immigrants will have to attend

to such patients in their own time and without using public facilities, the regional commissioner for health, Nela Garcia, said last week. The announcement comes after the Spanish government said that they will be insisting that some 150,000 immigrants who do not have residency papers will no longer have access to the free medical treatment they have been entitled to on the public health system and that they will be required to contribute 710 € per year if they want any type of healthcare whilst in the country. Over-65s will have to pay double, although pregnant women, minors and those with refugee status will continue to receive free care. So far a total of 77 doctors in the Valencia health system have signed up as conscientious objectors to the new policy. They say that they will continue to offer treatment to any-

one requiring it, at no cost, despite Garcia’s announcement. García said the regional government accepts the concept of conscientious objection but insisted that doctors who wish to continue to provide free healthcare will have to do so out of their own pockets and in their own installations. Andalusia, Asturias and the Basque Country, run by the Socialists; the Canary Islands, controlled by the Canarian Coalition and the Socialists; and CiU Catalan nationalist bloc-run Catalonia have all warned of the dangers that the central government's measure could involve and have pledged to go on guaranteeing healthcare to those people affected. They say that they consider the Government measures to be cruel, harsh and inhuman. So far 900 GP's in the provinces have also signed a petition stating that they Continued on Page 2


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