Defence minister rebuffs US president’s claim that Arctic islanders are ‘not being taken care of’

Greenland does not need medical assistance from other countries, Denmark has said, after Donald Trump said he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory that he wants to acquire.

“The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark. So it’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland,” the country’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, told the Danish broadcaster DR on Sunday.

In Greenland, as in Denmark, access to healthcare is free. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the Nuuk hospital serving patients from all over the territory.

Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, defended Denmark’s healthcare system, writing on Facebook that she was “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all. Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment.”

“You have the same approach in Greenland,” she said, before adding: “Happy Sunday to you all” in front of a blushing, smiling emoji.

  • chuck@lemmy.ca
    27·
    12 hours ago

    If china wants to piss of the orange guy they should float medical shisp to the major cities with ports and advertise no charge health services and see the hospitals reee with anger about lost sales

    • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      2 hours ago

      Reminds me of the American town that asked the Soviets for funding during the Cold War. There was a town that was essentially cut off without a bridge, and the local American government was dragging their feet with funding the construction. The town sent a letter to the USSR asking for humanitarian aid, who happily agreed to fund the bridge as a giant “fuck you” to the Americans. Suddenly, the American government was more than happy to fund the bridge as soon as the “USSR sending money to the US because America can’t afford to build their own bridges” news headlines broke and they had egg on their face.