Cape Town - Some foreigners struggle to access public healthcare services because
they don’t speak English. Now one clinic manager is hoping to change this.
Parow Community Health Centre clinic manager Abigail Daniels said: “There is an influx of foreign nationals moving into Parow who don’t have proper housing. Many individuals
are being grouped into small spaces which contributes to the rise of tuberculosis.
“Language plays an important role in the health service and educational programmes should be given to nurses and health officers to teach them how to share health advice and information to foreign patients.”
Daniels said she was currently engaging with the provincial Health Department to consider allocating a health practitioner who can speak the foreign languages.
Daniels said foreign patients often had difficulties with the service and information provided at clinics because they had difficulty understanding English.
The clinic receives 80 to 100 patients a day and the majority of the patients come for TB and HIV tests as well as preventative medication for reproductive health.
Spirituality Media Charity founder Jimi Bertrand said: “The foreign nationals struggle to understand the language and therefore don’t
know how to take the treatment properly. Most of them speak French, Lingala or Swahili and there is no one at the clinic who can help them understand.”
Former DA MP and activist for women Denise Robinson said the overcrowding in homes had largely led to the spread of TB.
“Children are being brought up in very difficult circumstances and if there are 10 people living in one house they need to ensure that hygiene is put first.”
@Sukainaish