“Think about what it means for single mothers when they have to travel far to get to the doctor with their children,” said Saleh Sharaf, president of the Kurdish Union, speaking in Kurdish. “Hammarkullen is a community with many children. If our bodies are not healthy our brains can’t think well. This is a dangerous development for the society.”

Dahir Jam Mohammed, president of the local Somalian Association, spoke in Arabic. He described what happened to him when he had to go to a hospital at the other side of town and wait there from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next day to get treatment. “Usually you had to wait for 20-30 minutes at the health-care center in Hammarkullen,” he said.

The rally and march were preceded by a 24-hour occupation of the health-care center by activists from the Hammarkullen Wages Resistance (HARM) coalition. A total of 160 people were involved, taking turns both staying in the center and keeping watch outside. On one occasion, 40 activists prevented security guards from evicting the occupants. They organized a telephone chain to mobilize people to defend the occupation.

The action had broad support in the community. The local Swedish Church called and offered refreshments.

Militant reporters interviewed several occupants after the action. Siv Isaksson said that the Hammarkullen community has a tradition of resistance since the 1970s. After the government announced its decision to close the clinic last November, residents formed HARM and started to mobilize to prevent the closure.

Hammarkullen is one of five local health-care centers that are scheduled to be closed in Gothenburg. Two of them are going to “merge” with others, but three will be closed without any pretense of an alternative. Residents of Hammarkullen have virtually no possibility to get access to the remaining centers that are already overcrowded.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home