BRUSSELS - European Union countries should guarantee access to health care for illegal immigrants, a French medical aid group said on Tuesday.

Medecins du Monde said a survey in seven EU countries showed illegal immigrants often had the right to health care, but more than half did not know where to go and about 25 per cent did not go for fear of being expelled.

"This report shows that part of the population in the EU does not have access to the most basic prevention or care, even when they are people leaving in conditions that are particularly bad for their health," the aid group said.

Medecins du Monde said the result was a delay in detecting AIDS cases and very low rates of vaccination among children of illegal immigrants. The survey was conducted in Belgium, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Britain.