Falling through gaps in healthcare systems during the COVID-19 pandemic
A recently published article on Euronews details how poor and vulnerable people have been affected to a higher degree when accessing healthcare across Europe. Testimonials are included from Graciela Malgesini (EU and advocacy officer at EAPN Spain) and Noellie Denomerenge (Caseworker for the Walloon Anti-Poverty Network or Réseau Wallon de Lutte contre la Pauvreté).
Malgesini states how self-employed people, elderly, disabled people, students, women in various positions of precarity or with dependents, as well as migrants and Roma are the profiles of people who are most likely to experience poverty. In addition, Denomerenge notes how people were finding themselves in difficult positions at the beginning of the pandemic, including people who were experiencing poverty for the first time.
Whilst highlighting how poverty is also a health issue, the article also stresses how the pandemic has exposed shortcomings in attaining health services.
The full article can be read below.