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Copenhagen: Greenland does not need medical assistance from other countries, Denmark's defence minister said Sunday, after US President Donald Trump claimed he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory.
"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," Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR.
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.
The Greenlandic local government signed an agreement with Copenhagen in early February to improve the treatment of Greenlandic patients in Danish hospitals.
Trump on Saturday posted on his social media platform Truth Social that "we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there".
Earlier Saturday, Denmark's Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.
