Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland
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Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland Policies – People – Practices Veronika Bilger, Christina Hollomey, Chantal Wyssmüller, Denise Efionayi-Mäder Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, International Center for Migration Policy Development, Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies – University of Neuchâtel, Vienna, 2011 Veronika Bilger, Christina Hollomey, Chantal Wyssmüller, Denise Efionayi-Mäder Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland. Policies – People – Practices. Federal Office of Public Health, International Center for Migration Policy Development, Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies – University of Neuchâtel; Vienna, 2011 This publication was supported by the Federal Office of Public Health in the framework of the ‘National Program Migration and Health 2008-2013’ Federal Office of Public Health FOPH CH-3003 Bern http://www.bag.admin.ch International Center for Migration Policy Development ICMPD A-1010 Vienna http://www.icmpd.org Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies, University of Neuchâtel SFM-UNINE CH-2000 Neuchâtel http://www.migration-population.ch © International Center for Migration Policy Development 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission of the copyright owners. Cover layout by Marcelo Ribeiro, ICMPD Printed and bound by Communication Network in Vienna, Austria ISBN 978-3-900411-74-9 Table of Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 5 List Of Figures And Tables .................................................................................................. 6 List Af Acronyms ................................................................................................................. 7 Glossary ............................................................................................................................... 9 POLICIES: The Legal and Policy Framwork on Access to Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland ......................................................................... 11 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 12 2 The General Migration Context ................................................................................... 13 3 Policies Regarding Undocumented Migrants .............................................................. 17 4 Main Characteristics of the Health System ................................................................. 21 5 Health Care for Undocumented Migrants ................................................................... 24 6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 31 References..............................................................................................................................32 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 36 PEOPLE & PRACTICES: Undocumented Migrants’ Needs and Strategies to Access Health Care in Switzerland & Practices of Health Care Provision .................................. 37 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 38 2 Undocumented Migrants’ Health Needs and Health Care Access Strategies ............. 42 3 Practices: A Survey On Health Care Provision For Undocumented Migrants ..... 56 4 Trends and Conclusions .............................................................................................. 85 References .......................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 91 3 Acknowledgements We first of all offer our special thanks to all our interviewees and informants – professionals or undocumented migrants – who made this study possible. We also wish to thank Serge Houmard and Raffaela Miccoli from the FOPH, as well as the coordinators of the NowHereLand project, Ursula Karl-Trummer and Sonja Novak-Zezula, for their helpful feedback and excellent collaboration. 4 Preface Undocumented migrants gain increasing attention in Europe as a vulnerable group that is exposed to high health risks and challenges public health. In general, undocumented migrants face considerable barriers in accessing health care services. Health of undocumented migrants is highly at risk due to difficult living and working conditions often characterised by uncertainty, exploitation, and dependency. Moreover, national regulations often severely restrict access to health care for undocumented migrants. At the same time, the right to health care has been recognized as human right by various international instruments ratified by European Countries (PICUM 2007; Pace 2007). This opens a paradox for health care providers: if they give care, they may act against legal and financial regulations, if they don’t give care they violate human rights and exclude the most vulnerable. However, there is little confirmed and comparative knowledge on policies and practices regarding undocumented migrants’ healthcare access in Europe. The EU project ‘Health care in NowHereLand – Improving Services for Undocumented Migrants in the EU’ coordinated by the Danube University Krems in Austria tried to close this gap by collecting empirical data on three levels: x Policies in EU 27 on national level x Practices of health care for undocumented migrants on regional and local level x Strategies of undocumented migrants to access health care based on the experiences of NGOs and other advocacy groups In this context, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health had an explicit interest to include Switzerland into the EU-wide comparison. Integrating the case of Switzerland into the EU comparison creates synergy effects on two levels: First, due to its highly federal structure Switzerland faces similar challenges than the EU, in particular regarding tensions between efforts to harmonise local and regional practices and large cantonal (CH) or national (EU) autonomy. Secondly, including Switzerland into the EU comparison also allows for expanding the perspective on identifying possible ‘good practices’ of policies and practices dealing with health care access of undocumented migrants. The Federal Office of Public Health thus in 2008 commissioned a study on ‘Access to Health Care for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland’, which was performed in close collaboration with the EU project NowHereLand. The Swiss study was conducted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) together with the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies (SFM) at the University of Neuchâtel and the Trummer & Novak-Zezula OG in Vienna. Following the design of the EU project, this publication provides a detailed overview on the actual state of knowledge on the health care situation of undocumented migrants in Switzerland with regard to three levels: policies and regulations, practices of health care provision, health care needs and strategies of undocumented migrants in Switzerland, and performed an assessment of selected practice models. The Swiss study thus aims to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences between Switzerland and the EU Member States on policies and practices that deal with the right to health care for undocumented migrants. The results of the European and the Swiss project – national and comparative policy and people reports, as well as a compilation of practices in the EU 27 and Switzerland (‘Practice Database’) are available at the NowHereLand website: http://www.nowhereland.info. 5 List of Figures and Tables FIGURE 2.1 Foreign Net Migration by Gender, Asylum Applications and Recognitions in Switzerland, 1991-2008 TABLE 2.1 Immigration of Foreign Nationals to Switzerland by Reason of Immigration, 2000-2009 TABLE 3.1 Overview on Access to Basic Social Rights for Undocumented Migrants in Switzerland 6 List of Acronyms AFK Ambulatorium für Folter- und Kriegsopfer AHBB Aidshilfe beider Basel AHS Aids-Hilfe Schweiz AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome APiS Aidsprävention im Sexgewerbe Cantons Aargau AG, Appenzell Ausserrhoden AR, Appenzell Innerrhoden AI, Basel-Land BL, Basel-Stadt BS, Bern BE, Fribourg FR, Genève GE, Glarus GL, Graubünden GR, Jura JU, Luzern LU, Neuchâtel NE, Nidwalden NW, Obwalden OW, Sankt Gallen SG, Schaffhausen SH, Schwyz SZ, Solothurn SO, Thurgau TG, Ticino TI, Uri UR, Wallis VS, Vaud VD, Zug ZG, Zürich ZH CHF Swiss Francs CHUV Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois CSI Centre de Santé Infirmier CSM Centre Santé Migrants DMC Département de médecine communautaire et de premier recours DG Sanco Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs EU European Union FdP Association Fleur de Pavé FG Federal Government FOM / BFM Federal Office for Migration / Bundesamt für Migration FOPH / BAG Federal Office of Public Health / Bundesamt für Gesundheit FPP Fonds