Berlin – German Aidshilfe on the German-Austrian AIDS Congress and the International Weeks Against Racism: Take a look together now and take action against racist and HIV-related discrimination in the health care system
Imagine you need medical help – and you are discriminated against. This is how many black people and people of color feel in Germany. They often experience racism in healthcare – and multiple discrimination if they are HIV positive. The consequences can be life-threatening. This is what the German Aidshilfe (DAH) points out on the occasion of the German-Austrian AIDS Congress (DÖAK) in Bonn.
At the DÖAK, the DAH presents facts on the subject and calls for awareness-raising, concrete countermeasures and access to health care for all people, regardless of skin color or origin. At the same time she clarifies with the Campaign “AIDS Aids Against Racism” about the topic. The DAH follows the German motto for the International Weeks Against Racism from 20.3. to April 2nd: “Get involved”.
“Racism is part of everyday life in the German healthcare system – but so far only those who are affected have noticed it. Addressing racism in health and care has so far been shamefully neglected,” says Omer Ouedraogo, Advisor for Migration of the German Aidshilfe. “With our campaign we want to say: Let’s all look together and then act!”
Racial discrimination is everyday life
Provide data on the topic Afrozensusfor which around 6,000 BPoC (Black and People of Color) were surveyed, and the study “positive voices 2.0” the German Aidshilfe and the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society (IDZ Jena).
64.6% of those surveyed in the Afro census who had been in contact with the “health and care” sector in the last two years had experienced discrimination there, around three quarters of them because of their skin color or ethnic origin. Around two thirds had experienced that doctors did not take their complaints seriously.
Die Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) reports, among other things, on racist insults, discrimination in treatment and refusals to provide health care services, for example due to insufficient German language skills.
The consequences of the abuses mentioned range from incorrect and late diagnoses to re-traumatisation and treatment discontinuations. In the case of “positive voices 2.0”, 18% of those questioned who had experienced discrimination in the healthcare sector stated that they were afraid of using healthcare services.
“Racism affects the psyche. People burn out faster, they’re scared. They do not dare to seek advice or seek medical treatment. As a result, this means a massive reduction in the quality of life, which we must not accept,” says DAH board member Björn Beck.
HIV is an example of how dramatic the consequences can be: Late diagnosis of HIV is life-threatening. After a few years, untreated HIV infections lead to AIDS.
HIV-related discrimination plus racism
Like most HIV-positive people, non-white people living with HIV also experience discrimination because of their HIV infection. 56% of the HIV-positive respondents to the “Positive Voices 2.0” study had had a negative experience in the healthcare system in the 12 months prior to the survey – from treatment services being refused to inappropriate questions to disclosure of their infection to third parties.
In general, racial disadvantage and discrimination because of HIV are often intertwined and difficult to distinguish. For example, people of African descent are often assumed to “bring” HIV and be a burden on the German health insurance companies; at the same time, a connection to stereotypical, racist ideas of their sexuality is established.
“Many ask me directly about HIV because I’m black,” said one person in an interview with “positive voices 2.0”.
Access to the health system for all
Although the best attainable state of health is a human right, in Germany people without residence papers usually do not even have access to the health system: They generally do not seek medical help because they then have to fear deportation – their data is sent to the immigration authorities for reimbursement of costs. The federal government promised a remedy in the coalition agreement and must now urgently deliver.
People without health insurance also have insufficient access to health services, as do asylum seekers in the first 18 months of their procedure.
Research and dismantle racism
“Politics and the medical system must finally take all dimensions of racism in the healthcare system seriously and take countermeasures,” says DAH board member Björn Beck. “At the same time, we all have to face up to our own racist ways of thinking and acting, opening ourselves up and learning – that also applies to us AIDS organizations, of course.”
In addition to measures against racism in our society in general, the following are necessary:
- Access to health care for all
- Education, sensitization and anti-racism training in the medical system
- Expansion of psychotherapeutic care with racism-sensitive therapists
- Higher capacities for translation and language mediation
- Complaints and assistance
- More research on racism in general and in healthcare
“The goal must be reliable, non-discriminatory care for everyone,” emphasizes DAH board member Beck. “No one should be excluded from health, no one should have to fear discrimination because of their skin color or an HIV infection if they need medical help.”
Campaign “AIDS Aids Against Racism”
Omer Ouedraogo: “Black or White – Racism in Healthcare”
Anti-racism in AIDS work – Interview with Björn Beck