PHM Europe and European Network Against Commercialisation of Health and Social Protection are preparing actions for 7 April, when we mark the international day of action against the privatisation of health. Just like for the past 5 years, the two networks are coordinating actions in Europe, and are mapping plans and actions in other regions as well, in order to show how widespread the struggle for fairer health systems is.
Both PHM Europe and European Network have already expressed their support for many of the campaigns being run for equitable and fair access to Covid19 related technologies and medical products, including vaccines, around the world. For the past few months we have been working closely with the organisation committee of the European Citizens’ Initiative Right to Cure. The aim of the initiative is forcing the European Commission to treat Covid19 vaccines as a public good, therefore taking a different approach to their negotiations with Big Pharma, and supporting mechanisms that can lead to vaccines being available all over the world, and not only in rich countries.
As the collection of signatures for this initiatives will be ongoing on 7 April, in Europe we will organise actions related to the 4 demands of the initiative:
1) Health for All – We all have a right to health. In a pandemic, research and technologies should be shared broadly, fast, across the globe. A private company shouldn’t have the power to decide who has access to treatments or vaccines and at what price. Patents provide one single company with the monopoly control over essential pharmaceutical products. This limits their availability and increases their cost to those who need them.
2) Transparency Now! – Data on production costs, public contributions and the effectiveness and safety of vaccines and medicines should be public. Contracts between public authorities and pharmaceutical companies must be made public.
3) Public Money, Public Control – Taxpayers paid for the research and development of vaccines and treatments. What has been paid for by the people should remain in people’s hands. We cannot allow big pharmaceutical companies to privatize crucial health technologies that have been developed with public resources.
4) No Profit on Pandemic – Big pharmaceutical companies should not profit from this pandemic at the expense of people’s health. A collective threat requires solidarity, not private profiteering. Public funds should always come with guarantees on availability and affordability. Big Pharma shouldn’t be allowed to plunder social security systems. Naturally, the pandemic has affected different regions of the world in different ways, and it is not expected of all actions to be related to these four topics only. Organizing to show the importance of social determinants of health, health workers’ working conditions, and people’s
participation in health systems remains as important as ever – we want to map all of those actions to show that people are ready to mobilize to achieve a fairer world in the aftermath of Covid19.
If you are planning to do something on or around 7 April, we would love to hear about it – please follow the details below to share your plans, and don’t hesitate to be in touch in case of any questions.
HOW TO JOIN THE CAMPAIGN
Join us by adding the details of your action or event on the interactive map available here:
#Health4All: 7 April 2021 actions#, or by e-mailing the information to ana@phmovement.org.
Don’t forget to share your photos and videos with us through social media by using #health4all,
#noprofitonpandemic and #action4health!
To find out more as plans developed, follow us on social media:
PHM Europe (Twitter: @phmeurope)
European Network (Twitter: @EUHealthNetwork, Facebook: @HealthNotForSale)
You can also show your support by joining a white sheet action in the days around April 7th by
hanging a white sheet on your window, taking a picture and sharing it with the same hashtag on
social media. More information on this action can be found on the European Network’s website:
http://europe-health-network.net/.
* We are critically aware that this map does not recognise Palestine, we strongly condemn this
fact and commit to develop a new map recognising Palestine for all future mobilisations.