Sunday 3 December, inspection Mediapart highlighted the shortcomings in the (non)care by the firefighters of Aïcha, a 13-year-old girl who died following a cerebral hemorrhage. A story that recalls that of Naomi Musenga, 22 years old, who died in 2018, a few hours after a call to SAMU where the operators made fun of her.
Following this first case, an online investigation was launched, entitled “Samu, firefighters, 112, hospital… Were you received badly? Witness “ was launched, highlighting racist biases in the care of people of North African origin. The results, transmitted at the time by The Parisian, were uplifting: Among the 1,000 participants, 49% said they had had their comments questioned by emergency shelter staff, a figure that rose to 55% for people with Arabic or Berber names. A study that has relaunched the debate on the notion of Mediterranean syndrome. What is it about? Explanations.
What is Mediterranean syndrome?
Mediterranean syndrome refers to a racist prejudice in which healthcare professionals assume that a person is exaggerating their suffering or faking their symptoms, as long as the person is of North African, black or Hispanic origin. This scientifically unfounded belief is based on “ fantasy according to which the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region are less resistant to pain”adds the sociologist and anthropologist David Le Breton, a specialist in the expressions of pain, interviewed on the subject by the newspaper The cross.
Where does this syndrome come from?
Myriam Dergham, a general practitioner who has been studying this phenomenon for several years, returns to the roots of this prejudice in an explanatory video which also reminds us that Frantz Fannon already denounced this phenomenon in the 1950s under the name of “northern syndrome”. -African”. As also reported Mediapart, “This belief dates back to colonization and the first waves of immigration to France for patients from North Africa, and to slavery for blacks.”
In an article, our colleagues from Good morning, I would also add that the Mediterranean syndrome has other names: Called “transalpine syndrome” in Switzerland and “Italian syndrome” in Belgium or Germany, it would originate from a difference in the “cultural expressions of suffering”, which would mislead health workers. A study conducted at a university in Los Angeles, for example, showed that when treating a fracture, Hispanics were “half as likely to benefit from pain relief treatment.”
Is it taught in medical classes?
Many interns have testified in the media that they have unofficially heard about the “Mediterranean syndrome” during their studies, or during their hospital internship, without having a dedicated course on the topic. In recent years, independent initiatives to deconstruct this racist belief have proliferated in medical schools, and calls for awareness are becoming increasingly pressing. But a taboo remains: some believe that these errors of judgment are mainly due to poor working conditions, including overwork, lack of staff and invectives to go ever faster.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
