Has the day come when access to basic health care is worse in Canada than in a refugee camp? It has, thanks to cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program. Refugee claimants from 27 designated countries of origin, announced on Dec. 15, will now be denied almost all health care services.

We never thought we would see this day. As health-care professionals experienced in working overseas with Mdecins Sans Frontires/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), we have seen the stark realities of refugee camps. We have struggled to provide basic medical care when water is scarce and living conditions crowded. Infectious diseases like measles run rampant because it is hard to get adequate supplies, maintain vaccines at the right temperature, and keep our staff safe. Two of our colleagues were kidnapped from Dadaab camp in Kenya, more than 14 months ago. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

We do this work, with its inherent risks and difficulties, because we think refugee health is important. We have gone from volunteering overseas with MSF to volunteering at home in Toronto clinics that offer free health care to refugees, because cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program have left many people with no other access to care.

We are astounded and horrified that here in Canada, refugees are now being denied access to basic health care. It is a terrible irony that while Canadians donate millions of dollars to care for refugees abroad, refugee claimants in Canada are now being refused such basic services as childhood vaccinations, prenatal care, and treatment of chronic illnesses.

This is a humanitarian issue, right here at home.

Cheap and easy to implement, basic health care can greatly reduce human suffering. Chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and mental health issues can be stabilized with regular checkups and adequate medication. Patients retain their dignity and remain productive.

Without treatment, these diseases progress and patients end up in emergency departments in diabetic comas or half-paralyzed by strokes. The Interim Federal Health Program provides no coverage for these life-threatening emergencies. Seriously ill patients cannot ethically be denied care, so treatment costs are absorbed by hospitals and provincial budgets. Not only are patients at risk of irreversible harm and greater suffering, it is much more expensive to provide care at this point.

Health care is a human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Canada is a signatory, states: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for . . . health and well-being, including . . . medical care and necessary social services.

We refuse to triage patients based on their immigration status. People should be treated based on their medical needs, not their ability to pay, nor their country of origin. Yet we are now being asked to do just that: ascertain patients immigration status, ask them where they are from, and then provide or withhold care accordingly.

Here in Canada the universality of health coverage is a crucial principle. Refugee claimants should be treated with the same fairness, according to medical need. As health-care professionals, our ethics demand this equality. We will not alter our standards of care depending on where people come from. We refuse to participate in arbitrating who deserves care, and who does not.

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Refugees in Canada have poorer access to health care than in refugee camps