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HEALTH

Switzerland’s hospital directors issue plea for tighter coronavirus measures

The directors of five of Switzerland’s largest hospitals have urged the health minister to impose stringent measures to reduce Covid infections, according to media reports.

Published: 13 December 2020 17:13 CET
Switzerland's hospital directors issue plea for tighter coronavirus measures
A health worker monitoring a patient at the hospital of La-Chaux-de-Fonds on November 5, 2020. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

In a letter to health minister Alain Berset, the directors of the university hospitals of Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lausanne and Geneva said the pandemic was forcing them to postpone operations for patients with other life-threatening conditions.

Gregor Zund, hospital director at the Zurich University hospital, said he wanted to see a full lockdown, including a ban on skiing, to bring the epidemic under control.

The newspaper SonntagsZeitung has reported that more than 4,000 operations have been postponed at the five hospitals since October.

Hospital directors said they feared that a third wave of coronavirus infections early next year could trigger a collapse in the health system, as intensive care beds were becoming scarce.

Switzerland has some of the worst per capita infection rates in Europe and the government fears the situation could spin out of control over Christmas.

On Friday it was announced that all shops, bars and restaurants would close from 7:00 pm until January 22, with the exception on the nights of December 24 and 31. 

“We're witnessing an exponential increase,” President Simonetta Sommaruga told a press conference in the capital Bern. “Our hospitals and our health workers are being stretched to the limit.”

In March, during the first wave of infections, Switzerland was not hit as hard by Covid-19 deaths and did not impose as strict a lockdown as some other European states.

It eased off those measures in stages, and many praised the Swiss handling of the crisis, with the emphasis placed on individual responsibility.

But relations among Switzerland's linguistic groups have frayed and government responses have come under fire since a new wave hit in the last three months.

With a population of 8.6 million, Switzerland is logging around 5,000 new cases and 100 deaths a day — a base level Health Minister Alain Berset said was far too high to start from if infections begin to double again.

EXPLAINED: Why are Covid-19 infections on the rise again in Switzerland?

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

The Swiss health system is ranked among the best in the world, but some essentials, like glasses, aren't automatically covered by health insurance. That could soon change, however

Published: 16 May 2024 15:06 CEST
Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

Green Party Federal Councillor Katharina Prelicz-Huber revealed in an interview with newspaper 20 Minuten this week that the Federal Parliament had tabled a motion to include prescription glasses and contact lenses in Switzerland’s mandatory health insurance scheme. 

Prelicz-Huber stated: “The purpose of compulsory health insurance is to provide the services you need to get or stay healthy,”

The motion forms part of the legislation that will be voted on during the 2024 summer session of the Federal Council. 

Proposed changes 

According to Switzerland’s peak optician body, 4 in 5 Swiss wear glasses or contact lenses at some point. 

It’s no surprise that statistics repository, Statista, projects the Swiss eyewear industry to be worth €1.37 billion by 2028. 

Currently, glasses and contact lenses are covered for up to 180 francs for children until age eighteen, if they are proscribed by a doctor.

Adults can also claim money back for glasses and contact lenses – however, they must be suffering from one of a short list of specific conditions such as keratoconus – where the cornea is distorted – or severe myopia, otherwise known as near-sightedness.

They must also have been specifically prescribed them by a doctor or optometrist. 

Otherwise, supplemental optical insurance must be purchased in Switzerland to ensure you can recoup the cost. 

Under the Green Party proposal, glasses, contact lenses, and other visual aids would be covered, regardless of age. 

Rising premiums prompt opposition 

Not everybody agrees with the proposal. 

The right-wing SVP has already spoken out against it, with Federal Councillor Diana Gutjahr arguing: “If we seriously want to slow down the burdensome and constantly rising health costs for the benefit of the population, we [must] show the political will not to constantly expand the benefits of compulsory health insurance.”

A spokesman for the the health insurance advocacy group Santesuisse, Matthias Müller, echoed Gutjahr, claiming that insurance constitutes “financing for extraordinary events such as illness.”

“If almost everyone benefits from a certain service, it is no longer an insurance benefit.”

A date for the vote has yet to be announced. 

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