2030 Sustainable Development Goals
Migrants often have issues accessing healthcare services in their new homes due to affordability but this is not the case for migrants in Dominica, where there is a long history of universal access to primary health care through a system of community health clinics. If you are ill you will not be turned away when seeking primary health services.
“All our services are free and by all our services, I mean, immunization maternal and child health care, diabetic care, you can get diabetic retinopathy done, you can get screening for cancers, the normal NCD checks, ” says says Dr. Lynora Fevrier- Drigo; the director of Primary Healthcare Services in Dominica. “If you’re an asthmaBc, if you have COPD or any heart condition and you come from one of our health centres, no matter which country you’re from, you will not be turned away,” she adds.
Some of the most vulnerable are often new migrants who may be unable to pay for healthcare due to cost and lack of resources. They often face discrimination, are denied access due to their immigration status, or they simply cannot afford it. According to Dr. Drigo, immunization, maternal and child care, and more are free and accessible to everyone, including migrants.
A 2022 report of the World Heath Organization [WHO] demonstrates that migrants are not inherently less healthy than host populations. However various other health determinants, “such as education, income, housing, access to services, compounded by linguistic, cultural, legal and other barriers” and their complex interactions tend to result in sub-optimal health outcomes.
The healthcare system in Dominica allows migrants to access healthcare at any of the forty-nine Health and Wellness Centres on the island and sometimes in their own language.
“One of the foundational pillars of primary health care is accessibility. It has to be accessible, and equitable to all”, notes Dr. Drigo.
“If you are living in Dominica and you’re sick, it will mean that you cannot be productive and you cannot add to our GDP. But if we can take care of you, we will make you a productive member of society so that you can incorporate yourself in a job,” indicates Dr. Drigo.
As countries in the Caribbean and around the world consider their progress towards achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dominica can be proud of its strides in ensuring that everyone can have access to primary health services, contributing to good health and wellbeing, with a healthy population working for the sustainable development of Dominica.
