Corona patients with a non-Western background are overrepresented in the IC, IC doctor Armand Girbes notes. Is information about corona sufficient for people who do not speak Dutch well?
A relatively large number of corona patients in both the IC and the nursing wards of the Amsterdam academic hospitals have a non-Western background, said IC head Armand Girbes of the Amsterdam UMC, VU department. Inquiries by Girbes with colleagues in other cities showed that the situation in Amsterdam is not unique: the image is recognized in almost all metropolitan hospitals. That seems to be a difference from the first wave.
Girbes’ statement drew attention, including from PVV leader Geert Wilders. But it’s the doctor to do the patients, he says. “As a society, we have the task of protecting everyone against this disease as well as possible. We must therefore now ask ourselves how this difference could have arisen and what we can do about it. ”
Girbes himself suggests that information about corona may not be equally accessible to everyone. That is quite possible, thinks Nazrien Ozir, who himself is of Surinamese-Hindustani descent and lives in The Hague. She often visits the Transvaal district in The Hague, where her mother lives in a senior citizen’s home. She sees how things go wrong there. “In the supermarket, people are too close to each other, no one wears masks. A lady with fifteen children lives with my mother, who all come to visit on holidays. ” The lack of knowledge plays a major role. “The people I see don’t watch the NPO. And even if there is a folder in their own language, they may not be able to read it. ”
It would be better, she says, to, for example, run commercials on the Hindustani radio, which many people listen to. “That is known and has more authority.”
Difference in life expectancy
Mohammed Azzouz works as a project manager at Pharos with solutions such as those of Ozir. The organization’s mission is to reduce differences in health. For example, the difference in life expectancy between people with a low and people with a high education can be up to six years. This has several causes, such as poverty, living environment and literacy.
Good communication about corona is crucial, says Azzouz. “The language used to communicate the measures is not always easy to understand, while the government does have great expectations of us: the policy is based on individual responsibility. For example, a word like “hygiene measures” is difficult for people with low literacy. ”
Girbes’ statements come as no surprise to Pharos. “We have a strong impression that health inequalities in vulnerable groups as a result of corona are increasing, although more research is needed to get a clear picture of this.” It is difficult to say whether there is really a shortage of information at the moment. However, it is important to constantly test the existing information with the target group. In addition, there are several agencies that deal with corona awareness; municipalities also provide information, for example. But it doesn’t hurt to keep corona education as simple as possible, Azzouz says. “Authorities are often afraid to use jip-and-jane language. But clear information is good for everyone. ”
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Anger at Wilders tweets about corona patients
PVV leader Geert Wilders received angry responses to his tweet on Sunday with which he responded to reports that there are mainly people with a non-Western background on the ic who do not speak the Dutch language completely.
