About Utopia Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health
Utopia is a refugee and asylum seeker health service providing primary care (GP services) at no or low cost to refugees and asylum seekers regardless of their Medicare status.
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Utopia is a non-government organisation, established by people who believe in health as a human right and that refugees and asylum seekers require services tailored to their needs.
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Personal profit is not our purpose. However, some income will be necessary to provide free services. Income from our one-stop-shop for travel medicine will contribute to the free service we can provide to refugees and asylum seekers.
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Dr Lester Mascarenhas
Founder
Dr Lester Mascarenhas has worked in cross-cultural medicine for more than 10 years, initially with First Nations Australians in remote communties and then with refugees and asylums seekers in Melbourne. He completed his medical training the UK and was granted fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Lester also has a Masters in public health and a diploma in Tropical Medicine.
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Refugees and asylum seekers are some of Melbourne's most disadvantaged communities. After suffering years of persecution and torture in their homelands, spending often ten years or more in a transit country, some making perilous journeys at great financial and human cost, they arrive in Australia and face a fresh set of challenges.
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Dr Lester Mascarenhas seeks to address some of the challenges faced by these communities in accessing quality, affordable healthcare.