ACTION of the Week - Make free public health care a reality for all

Written by Jonny Currie, about 1 year ago | Permalink

Public healthcare over private profit

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/unison.html

Good health care is a fundamental right, not a luxury. It's vital to saving the lives of women in pregnancy or childbirth. But in poor countries people are being forced to pay for private care when they simply can't afford it.

The pursuit of profits means private health care is often either too expensive for most people in poor countries, or so low quality it risks lives.

Despite these problems, aid donors are actually pushing for more aid money - that's the cash which helps pay for things like hospitals, drugs and nurses in poor countries - to be spent on private services.

This must change. The international community must start taking public services seriously - and that means paying for health services provided by government that are proven to deliver for the poorest people. Only poor countries that rely mainly on public health services have succeeded in providing health care for all.

Email Douglas Alexander, UK Secretary of State for International Development, and tell him that the UK government must lead the way by championing free public health care for poor countries.

  1. Copy the message below into your email AND change if you can since politicians respond less to template, generic emails.

  2. Send the message to alexanderd@parliament.uk

  3. (Optional) Write him a letter if you feel passionate enough to:

Douglas Alexander MP 2014 Mile End Mill

Abbey Mill Business Park

Paisley

PA1 1JS

Dear Douglas Alexander,

Everyone deserves a decent standard of free health care. The UK government has shown international leadership by significantly increasing aid to developing countries. Now, the UK must lead the way and act as a champion to encourage the international community and particularly the World Bank to:

  • invest in free public health services in developing countries

  • invest in 4.25 million more health workers worldwide

  • stop promoting private health care services that are risky and unproven.

Only free public health services can deliver for the poorest people on the scale required.

Yours sincerely,

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