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Dental care for the undocumented
According to Swedish law:
Care of children under 18 years of age
All children under the age of 18 must be offered health care and dental care to the same extent and on the same terms as children registered in the national register who reside in Sweden.
Care of adults
In order for an adult to have access to full, subsidized healthcare and dental care in Sweden, it is required that the person resides (registered) within a region or is an EU/EEA citizen. However, the regions are obliged to offer immediate health and medical care, including dental care, to those staying in a region without being resident there.
In addition to these obligations, each region must offer all asylum seekers and undocumented persons:
- care and dental care that cannot be met
- maternity care
- abortion care
- contraceptive advice
- medicines prescribed in connection with the above care
- health examination (unless it is clearly unnecessary).
The law and the bill Health care for persons staying in Sweden without a permit (2012/13:109) provide more information about the extent of the care.
Unbelievable care and dental care
What is to be counted as "care that is inappropriate" must always be decided in the individual case by the treating doctor or dentist.
In summary:
Refugees in hiding
EU migrants dental care
EU migrants do not have the right to emergency dental care, however, there is a non-profit organization "Doctors in the World” which helps those in need with both healthcare and dental care.
Watch founder Stina Berge talk about the organization's goals and visions
Yennenga Progress is a non-profit organization consisting of a network of expert companies, organizations and individuals who work according to the concept "The good village". The work started in Burkina Faso 20 years ago with the mission to contribute to creating a sustainable future through democratic welfare societies in micro format. In the village of Nakamtenga, the business is built around holistic thinking where basic human needs and driving forces in all stages of life are organized in terms of education, health and infrastructure/entrepreneurship. In this way, all of the UN's Global Goals, Agenda 2030, can be translated down to the village level, and Yennenga's concept is now being packaged so that other villages and communities can take part in the methodology and create their own welfare communities.
Yennengas vision is a sustainable world. The belief is that if people have their basic human needs covered, in terms of life-long learning, health in a broad perspective and infrastructure in the form of access to clean water, food security, safe homes, etc., then the risk of extremism and conflicts is reduced there also the likelihood of democratic development with respect for human rights increases. The solutions must be radically adapted to stop climate change and to recreate a "wild" nature with the possibility of biodiversity.
The collaboration with Tandläkare utan gränser (Dentists Without Borders) consists of training, instructing and offering prophylactic and odontological care on site in Nakamtenga. The long-term goal is to build the local capacity and care ethics of the dental clinic in the village to improve oral and general health in the area. The dental clinic is run in combination with the Dr Denis Mukwege Center and therefore has a stable structure to lean on.
With knowledge, adequate care, regular check-ups, access to toothbrushes and toothpaste, we work towards a solution to the problem in order to transition to more preventive and curative care without having to perform emergency dental care with extractions.
Jenny Mikhail shares her experience working as a volunteer for Tandläkare utan gränser (Dentists Without Borders).
Become a volunteer by applying below!
To be able to volunteer, you must be a member. read more here Be a member
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