Medical Translations: Language Assistance Saves Lives

[spanishguru]

Access to proper health services and medications is often taken for granted by many people in the United States. However, we tend to overlook the fact that out of 44 million Latino immigrants living in this country, 78% grow up speaking Spanish at home. In many cases, this entails that they have limited if any knowledge of the English language making it difficult for them to understand the complex terminology in prescriptions and medical settings. As a result, the absence of adequate medical translations and medical interpretation services endangers numerous Latino immigrants who lack sufficient command of the English language.

[Veronica]

Interesting, but this is prone to generate a discussion. Should hospitals have bilingual staff, only because some people don't understand the official language of the country?