Undocumented people do not have access to healthcare – report

Undocumented South Africans and foreigners based in Mpumalanga are being turned away from clinics and hospitals, according to a report by health advocacy groups.

The research by Ritshidze, was conducted by the Treatment Action Campaign, Positive Women’s Network, the National Association of People Living with HIV and Aids, Positive Action Campaign, and the South African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV/Aids in partnership with Health Global Access Project, the Foundation for Aids Research and Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.

Shouted at and turned away

The research to assess how patients are being treated by the province’s healthcare centres was conducted last year and the findings were released last week.

The report was published on Ritshidze’s website and other involved stakeholders’ online platforms.

“I was turned away. I walked out crying. I could not get contraceptives. Later I conceived and I went back to the clinic.

“They shouted at me again and turned me away,” said a woman who spoke during a community engagement meeting organised by the lobby groups in Ermelo.

“They said that treatment was not free and I should have stayed in Mozambique instead of coming here. “We are not attended to if we do not have IDs. They even wanted to call the police.”

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The report stated that last year, 230 people across Mpumalanga were not attended to due to a lack of documentation.

“Shockingly, 131 of these reports came from the Nkangala region alone – where 15% of respondents told us they had been denied services without a transfer letter,” the report says.

According to Section 4(3) of the National Health Act, everyone who is in the country and without medical aid is entitled to access free healthcare services.

It states that the service is available to all documented and undocumented South Africans and foreigners.

Commenting on allegations of denying people healthcare due to lack of documentation, Mpumalanga department of health spokesperson Dumisani Malamule refuted the report’s allegations that nurses refused to assist undocumented people.

‘No complaint lodged’

Malamule said the reason he was refuting the allegations was that the department did not receive these allegations from the affected people.

“No formal complaint has yet been submitted to the department regarding challenges faced by foreigners and undocumented individuals in Mpumalanga in accessing healthcare services due to a lack of identity documents.

“This issue is of significant concern and contradicts the constitutional right to health.

“There is no formal record of any nurses being accused of denying foreigners and undocumented individuals in Mpumalanga access to healthcare services.”

He said that in South Africa, the constitution guarantees the right to access healthcare for everyone, regardless of their citizenship status or documentation.

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Last month, the lobby groups released a report on the North West, citing that most HIV patients in the province had stopped taking treatment due to a lack of access to food.

North West department of social development spokesperson Petrus Siko said the department was doing its best to assist the vulnerable patients.

“Food parcels are provided for three months upon which the beneficiaries are capacitated and linked to income-generating programmes so that they are in a position to be self-sufficient.

“The vulnerable communities and individuals are offered an opportunity to access social grants to curb poverty and ensure that people do not go to bed hungry.”