Discriminated Health Center Patients in Saint-Denis: Racist Beliefs Detailed in Report
Article Rewrite
Hitting the emergency room, especially for chest pain, can be a breeze if you're a white male. But for a black woman? Not so much, according to the 2025 Defender of Rights report. Factors like race, gender, and social standing often skew the scales in favor of some over others in healthcare access.
This unsettling reality is not just limited to the emergency room, as some encounter obstacles when trying to schedule an appointment at Saint-Denis' reception, care, and orientation center run by Doctors of the World (MDM).
Take Patricia, a 57-year-old Haitian woman. She's there because she no longer qualifies for state medical aid (AME). Dr. Catherine Mericam, a volunteer at MDM, questions her about her diabetes and high blood pressure. "This woman has been through obvious discrimination," Dr. Mericam remarks. "She's diabetic, has high blood pressure – these folks should be seeing a cardiologist once a year to manage any potential cardiovascular complications. Yet, her own doctor never suggested it."
MDM's volunteer doctors also notice that Mediterranean-type women receive less attention. It's a fact that some healthcare providers historically believed Mediterranean or foreign women are less sensitive to the pain they express, due to a culturally ingrained notion that they tend to exaggerate it.
In the same Saint-Denis waiting room, there are Pakistani workers who struggle to communicate with doctors without the paid translator MDM provides.
General discrimination can occur at various intersections, such as race, gender, immigration status, and socioeconomic standing, affecting individuals' trust and willingness to seek healthcare. To combat this, healthcare systems should adopt culturally sensitive practices, employ language access services, enact non-discriminatory policies, and engage with local communities to build trust.
While specific data for Saint-Denis was not found in our search results, these principles can help create an inclusive and accessible healthcare environment for all individuals, ensuring no one gets left behind due to discrimination.
- Despite the year 2025, discrimination in healthcare is still prevalent, as evidenced by a black woman's experience in a French emergency room.
- The French science of health-and-wellness, specifically mental health, must address the complications arising from discrimination against Mediterranean-type women, who often receive less attention.
- In Saint-Denis, the accessibility of health services can be a challenge for minority groups, such as Haitian women and Pakistani workers, who may face language barriers or discrimination.
- To ensure a healthier society, it is crucial for French healthcare systems to implement culturally sensitive practices,address language access services, enact non-discriminatory policies, and engage with local communities, particularly focusing on mental health, to build trust and prevent discrimination from affecting individuals' willingness to seek healthcare.
