Undocumented migrants have great difficulty accessing healthcare in Switzerland. Although officially the Swiss Constitution guarantees access to the health system for all, thousands of people, often due to their lack of health insurance or their fear of being reported and expelled from the country, are left without proper medical care. In January 2006, Médecins Sans Frontières set up a project called Meditrina, which provided free medical consultations for these people. In January 2010, the Swiss Red Cross took over this project.

Located in a small alley of downtown Zurich, the Médecins Sans Frontières Meditrina clinic provided more than 1,100 free consultations in 2009, bringing the total since the beginning of the project in 2006 to more than 3,400. Furthermore, hundreds of patients were referred to a network of medical and paramedical specialists who provided confidential consultations and medical care.

Around 50 per cent of Meditrina’s patients are migrants living without documents in the Zurich area, but many others, despite their legitimate status, came to the Médecins Sans Frontières clinic because they could not or did not know how to access public healthcare. The most common conditions found in patients at the Meditrina clinic were gastro-intestinal, dental and dermatological. Many patients also showed psychological disorders, often linked to their difficult living conditions. Meditrina also provided testing, counselling and long-term treatment for chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Médecins Sans Frontières has worked in Switzerland since 2003.