A new booklet detailing in eight languages the services available to patients is to be distributed to GPs around the country.
The Health Service Executive developed the booklet to help doctors in their consultations with members of ethnic communities.
Medical Translationswas developed by Dr Eugene O'Connor of the Berkeley Clinic in Dublin, who decided to write the leaflet after recognising the need for it when dealing with ethnic communities in his own practice.
Speaking at the launch of the publication today Tadhg O'Brien, Assistant National Director for Primary, Community and Continuing Care, HSE said: "This medical translations publication enables the client to make decisions around their own health and eliminates what can be a major barrier to healthcare for first time clients for whom English is not a first language."