On June 18, 2012 refugees, community members, health professionals and activists across Canada demonstrated against the federal government’s plans to cut the Interim Federal Health Program (the basic health insurance provided to refugee claimants while they await a decision on their claim. In response to these proposed cuts, Fernanda Villanueva wrote the following reflection, to illustrate how detrimental these cuts will be to the immigrant rights in Canada.
When I was four years of age, I vaguely remember my mother burning her face with hot oil, as she made a traditional Chilean dish of “empanadas de quezo.” I recall watching television with my cousins and suddenly hearing my mother scream…and then I recall my mother having to stay in an unlit room for several weeks, as she recovered from her injuries. Although I was told numerous times by family members that I could not see my mother, I would secretly enter her room to tell her that I loved her, and that no matter what she looked like at the end, I would still think she was beautiful.
My mother was fortunate. She sought immediate care at the hospital, where she stayed for several days, and was given a cream for her burn. None of this would have been possible should she not have qualified for the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) coverage, that as a refugee, she was entitled to.
The idea of the IFHP was initially created in the 1940s to support Europeans who were fleeing World War II and who required medical attention in Canada. Since that time, this health plan has supported thousands of refugees who have had to leave their home countries due to political unrest, torture, persecution, sexual violence and natural disasters, among others.
However, on June 30, 2012, Canada is making drastic changes to the IFHP, which will significantly limit the access that refugees (adults, youth and children) will have to medical care. They will no longer be covered to access services by health providers at clinics or hospitals, unless it is “urgent or essential in nature” and they will no longer be provided with medication and vaccines to medical illnesses unless it is “needed to prevent or treat a disease that is a risk to public health or conditions of public safety.”
Health care in Canada costs 172 billion dollars a year to maintain and to provide medical care to refugees with the IFHP it costs 84 million dollars a year. By drastically cutting refugee health care, Canada risks completely ignoring the medical needs of an already vulnerable population and also turns a blind eye to the various legal binding documents that they have previously signed.
These changes ignore the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human rights which states the right of everyone to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including…medical care and necessary social services.” Moreover, the 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child notes that promotion of access to health rights should be “irrespective of the origin of the status of the child, parents, or legal guardians.”
When I was six years of age, I injured myself and received 10 stitches under my chin. Although I am a Canadian citizen now, at that time I was not. Would my injury have been considered “urgent?” Would the trips to the doctors have been “essential” when I couldn’t breathe and was later diagnosed with asthma at age nine? Financially, my mother was extremely limited and I am certain that she could not have afforded the costs for either medical attention that I required. We were not taking advantage of the system. We were not bogus refugees. Both of us simply needed medical attention that can occur, despite your citizenship.
Working in a women’s health clinic in Toronto and having the privilege of providing health services to diverse women, I am concerned and saddened about the drastic cuts to the IFHP. I cannot fathom how these cuts will ultimately impact the women who access our services. I cannot imagine how this new bill will impact women who require prenatal care, children who are ill or who need routine vaccines, or individuals who, despite attempting to keep their health intact, have experienced an accident or have developed a chronic illness.
What I do know is that next time that I visit my doctor and take out my health card, I will be reminded of the privilege that I now have as a Canadian Citizen. I will recall that at one point in my life, despite my mother and I not having this privilege, we were still fortunate enough to access health care. I will also feel a sense of sadness, knowing that many refugees living in Canada post June 30, 2012, will no longer have access to the medical care, that despite being in the same position as them, I was fortunate to always have.
~ Fernanda Villanueva