19.06.2023 – 05:35
Doctors of the World eV
Berlin (ots)
It’s an offer that shouldn’t really be needed in Germany: Doctors of the World is opening a contact point in Berlin for anyone who can’t go to a regular doctor’s office. Because they are not – or not sufficiently – insured or other barriers prevent them from accessing the state health system.
The official opening on June 20, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (Irenenstraße 20, 2nd floor, 10317 Berlin, near the underground and S-Bahn station Lichtenberg) will be attended by the district mayor of Lichtenberg, Martin Schaefer, and the parliamentary state secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Sabine Dittmar to guest.
In the open.med Berlin-Lichtenberg practice, patients can be treated and advised anonymously and free of charge by volunteer doctors. Full-time employees support the patients in exchange with health insurance companies and authorities.
“Unfortunately, there is a great need for offers like ours in Berlin. That’s why we are very pleased to be able to open the contact point after intensive planning and preparation!” says project manager Susanne Eikenberg. “Ultimately, we are working towards ensuring that we are no longer needed because nobody falls through the cracks in the German healthcare system. But there is still a lot of work to be done before then – also at the political level.”
Doctors of the World deliberately chose the Lichtenberg location. Many people live here in difficult living conditions. But compared to other districts, there are fewer and fewer doctors in private practice and hardly any offers for low-threshold medical care. Lichtenberg also has several refugee shelters.
Background:
Since the official statistical surveys do not reach the majority of those affected, there are no reliable figures on how many people in Germany live without health insurance. Doctors of the World assumes several hundred thousand. This includes people without a regular residence status or migrants from other EU countries who do not have social security work. But many German citizens are also unable to access the medical services they need, for example because they can no longer pay the health insurance contributions or have lost their insured status. (More information:
About Doctors of the World:
Doctors of the World is a humanitarian organization that campaigns for the human right to health with medical projects and political work in over 70 countries worldwide. In Germany, volunteer medical professionals and full-time employees treat and advise people who have no access to the regular healthcare system.
Press contact:
Stephanie Kirchner
The press officer
Doctors of the World eV
m. +49 (0) 159 0406 2104
@ [email protected]
Original content from: Ärzte der Welt eV, transmitted by news aktuell