Social Austerity Hits Healthcare: Thousands Left Behind

Social Austerity Hits Healthcare: Thousands Left Behind

Kadir Duran / Bruxelles Korner 

Shock in Brussels. In Schaerbeek, Evere, Saint-Josse, and Auderghem, medical centers serving over 5,000 patients are being shut down. Why? Their contracts were abruptly cut by health insurers. The reason? They’d become “too big.”

Too big to care? That’s what Dr. Irshad Nobeebux is being told. But behind the bureaucratic jargon lies a political agenda.

Patients pay the price. No proof of wrongdoing. No clear explanation. Just doors closing and vulnerable patients — elderly, chronically ill, low-income families — left without care.

Welcome to “Arizona.” That’s the nickname of the current government. Their motto? If you’re not productive, you’re a burden. Illness, burnout, disability — all seen as excuses.

No mercy for the weak. Social benefits? Slashed. Sick leave? Bureaucratized. Retirement? Postponed. The goal? Force everyone to work — no matter their condition.

Medical centers under attack. Community clinics that serve the poor are being targeted. They’re not “profitable” enough. They don’t fit the model. So they’re dismantled.

It’s not just cruel. It’s stupid. Forcing untrained or ill people into jobs doesn’t grow the economy. It creates suffering, chaos — and failure.

What Belgium really needs? Investment. Innovation. Education. Not repression. Not economic dogma from the last century.

Divide and conquer? Transferring powers to regions won’t solve the crisis. It will just serve separatists like Bart De Wever — and tear the country apart.

A state that lasts protects its people. Not just the strong. Especially the vulnerable.