Denmark stated that Greenland does not need a specific health initiative and that access to healthcare is universal, in reaction to the announcement of sending a North American hospital ship to autonomous Danish territory. The announcement was made this Sunday, February 22nd.
“The people of Greenland receive the health care they need. They receive it in Greenland and, if they need specialized treatment, they receive it in Denmark. Therefore, there is no need for a special health initiative in Greenland,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR.
The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, without explicitly mentioning the North American proposal, stated that she was “happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for everyone”. “Where health insurance or wealth do not determine whether someone receives decent treatment. The approach is the same in Greenland,” the government official wrote on Facebook.
Just like in Denmark, access to healthcare is free in Greenland, which runs its own healthcare system, but relies heavily on Danish professionals. There are five regional hospitals on the vast Arctic island, with the one in Nuuk receiving patients from all over the territory. The Greenlandic government signed an agreement with Copenhagen in early February to improve the treatment of Greenlandic patients in Danish hospitals.
On Saturday, Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he would send “a large hospital ship to Greenland to care for the many people who are sick and have no treatment”without mentioning numbers or specifying details. The US President indicated that the operation to send the ship is being carried out in coordination with Jeff Landry, appointed in December as US Special Envoy to the Arctic island.
When contacted by DR, Lund Poulsen stated that he was not aware of the possible arrival of a hospital ship in Greenland. “Trump is constantly writing about Greenland (…). Therefore, this is, without a doubt, an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics”, declared. On Saturday, Arctic Command announced the rescue of a crew member from a North American submarine off the coast of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
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