An Saoi: I recently came across the following comment from an interview with Dr. Giovanni Berlinguer, professor of Social Medicine and younger brother of the late Enrico.
I think the esteemed professor has covered exactly why the problems occurred - you cannot have a dual health system operating side by side.
“The health sector is a central actor in eliminating health inequities through universal coverage and by initiating collaboration with other sectors to address social determinants.
Medicine contributed a lot during the 20th century to the benefit of mankind, but the benefits were not equally distributed. There is an old saying: "Medicine is the science that enables the rich to be cured, and says to the poor how they could be cured if they were rich".
Today, the abolition of universal health systems has happened in some countries and it is beginning to happen in others. This trend must be reversed if we are to ensure that poor and marginalised populations have access to the health system.
Universal coverage is important to health, to human rights, but also to social cohesion and stability. Social cohesion is greater when there is not a division in society between those who suffer and those who do not.”
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