Salman Ramazan
Organization: Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum
Year Founded: 1989
Country: Germany
Website: www.ethno-medizinisches-zentrum.de
Video EMZ assists migrants in navigating the German health system, helping them overcome language and cultural barriers to promote good health. Focus: Health, Migrants Geographic Area of Impact: Germany Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 11,000 (2008) Annual Budget: US$ 1.7 million (2008) Percentage Earned Revenue: 2% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Germany, 2008 Background About 6.8 million, or 9%, of Germany’s population are foreigners. Health promotion measures developed by the German health system are difficult to impart to migrants. This is due not only to the language barrier, but also to the lack of consideration of cultural differences in the development of health campaigns. Topics such as the free choice of insurance company, regulations on the subsidization of medication, or the difference between compulsory and private health insurance, are for the most part unknown in their home countries. There is also a lack of information or doctors trained to meet the special needs of individual migrant groups. The Innovation and Activities The Ethno-Medizinisches Zentrum (EMZ), or Ethno-Medical Centre, assists migrants in navigating the German health system and helps overcome language and cultural barriers to promote good health. Through its With Migrants for Migrants (MiMi) programme, multilingual intercultural mediators are recruited and trained to teach the German health system and related health topics to migrant communities. This includes addressing such issues as how to handle medication, alcohol consumption, children's health, pregnancy, family planning and AIDS/HIV prevention. MiMi has been adopted in 10 German states, with about 1,000 migrants from 44 countries trained as mediators. Through religious or recreational activities, mediators establish contact with less integrated migrants and invite them to community group sessions. This provides opportunities for sharing information on healthcare with migrant communities in their own language and in a culturally sensitive way. In addition to MiMi, EMZ also offers the Hand-in-Hand health guides, which are available in 15 languages. These pamphlets supply information on the German health system and significantly facilitate orientation for migrants. In doctor's offices and hospitals throughout Germany, EMZ offers on-site interpreting services. As the interpreters also have a medical background, they are able to mediate directly between the patient and the medical specialists, and thereby, language barriers regarding medical history, diagnosis and therapy are removed. The typical clientele includes hospitals, pediatric clinics, psychiatric practices and communal social services. All EMZ activities are evaluated and monitored by a protocol that records the feedback of cooperating partners through programme conferences and routine contacts. Most of these studies are being done in cooperation with universities in Germany, Italy and Switzerland as well as the World Health Organization. The Entrepreneur Born in Istanbul in 1960, Ramazan Salman grew up in Hannover after his family immigrated to Germany in 1966. After studying social sciences and applied social studies, he was inspired by his early experiences as an interpreter for his family members and developed the idea of a trans-cultural service network. Ramazan founded the Ethno-Medical Centre in 1989 with the goal of helping migrants with their health-related problems. He is a well-known trainer of professionals and managers in healthcare institutions, training groups in trans-cultural competence and managing services for migrants. Since 2008, Salman has been a representative of the German Federal Ministry of Health on the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Mobility, Migration and Access to Health Care. In 2006, he was honoured as an Ashoka Fellow.
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