Health care is a basic human right. It should be available universally, indivisibly and independently. This is not the case in Aruba. The human rights and public health of the island are at risk because health care is not available to the people most in need. Project HUMANN was founded to improve the access to health care for the most vulnerable amongst the Aruban population. Improvement in the medical and public health systems will have a significant impact on the present population and future generations of Aruba.

The current Aruban population consists of 92 nationalities. This is due to migration from neighbouring political and economically unstable countries. One in six of the inhabitants of Aruba are undocumented migrants. In 2021, there were 20,000 undocumented migrants on the island. They have no health insurance, minimal money and are frightened of deportation. Therefore, they under-utilise available health care, access it late, or do not access it at all.

Presently, an efficient and holistic solution to the aforementioned issues unfortunately does not exist. For example, undocumented migrants can come to the Emergency Department (ED) of Horacio Oduber Hospital for life threatening emergencies. However, the financial burden on the hospital is rapidly increasing, since the incurred debts can rarely be payed back in full by the patients. For non-emergency care, several foundations can provide medical relief vouchers, but are worth a relatively small amount of money and are scarce. 

Project HUMANN aims to be the first NGO in Aruba solely focused on providing health care for undocumented migrants.

Learn more about the short and long-term projects by visiting Projects.