IMMIGRATION/HEALTH : ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS EXCLUDED FROM HEALTH CARE, SAYS NGO.

• Position: Medecins du monde

As Europe steps up its fight against illegal immigrants, Medecins du monde (MdM) has released pessimistic findings. Illegal immigrants, and to a lesser extent asylum seekers, are "on the whole excluded from health care," the NGO announced, on 17 December, on the eve of International Migrants Day. Logically, their state of health is not equal to that enjoyed by nationals.

Illegal immigrants suffer from serious illnesses, particularly AIDS: 2.3% of those questioned in seven European countries (Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK) are HIV seropositive, compared to an average of 1% for the European...