Health before Markets...
Let's change Europe

Sheet 1: Good public health requires sufficient public/solidarity-based funding 

Europe, through the budgetary imposes constraints on social protection and health budgets, which has caused a massive deterioration in people's state of health. These European pressures are pushing public or non-profit healthcare providers into budgetary strains. This is leading to a deterioration in the working conditions of healthcare staff and in having access to quality care for patients.

Private operators are taking advantage of this to attract solvent populations and profitable services. There is also a strong temptation for governments to transfer the healthcare financing to the private sector and make patients pay.

The pandemic has shown us how important it is to ensure that health issues take precedence over financial and economic interests. Yet Europe wants to reinstate the same budgetary constraints.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 2: Marketing is no solution for our health

The commercialisation of healthcare, to the detriment of a public or non-market system, taking many forms: sub-contracting, development of private insurance, social dumping, privatisation and competition, higher costs for patients, etc.

The selection of solvent patients and profitable treatments undermine the public or non-profit operators who ensure the universality and continuity of care. Immediate profitability and return on investment dictate the rules and prevent a longer-term, global vision.

As a result, healthcare then becomes a two-tier system in which only the rich benefit from quality care.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 3 : What's the point of having high-performance healthcare if it's only available to some?

While many European countries pride themselves on having a healthcare system at the cutting edge of medical technology, the proportion of people excluded from healthcare services is growing! There are various reasons for this trend:

 The financial burden on the patient is too high.

• Health services have undergone restructuring and rationalisation and are increasingly remote.
• Waiting times are getting longer.
• The standardisation of treatment excludes populations that do not correspond to the national standard.

The shortage of healthcare staff is exacerbating this trend.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 4: Our health belongs to us! Health democracy is a key determinant of health.

The dogmatic nature of economic imperatives leaves no room for debate on health issues: decisions are taken primarily based on profitability and budgetary efficiency. In the face of financial imperatives, individual patient responsibility is developing rather than collective action on public health issues.

Prevention and the development of community health are seen as a costly investment therefore, receiving little support.
Finally, the pressure put on intermediary bodies (trade unions, NGOs, local associations, etc.) helps to distance the public from the health debate.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 5: Social inequalities play a decisive role in health expectancy.

Successive crises (pandemics, energy, climate, wars, migration, etc.) have accelerated the deterioration in people's health, particularly through these crisis negative impact on living conditions in terms of the environment, housing, working conditions, stress, and uncertainty about the future, etc.

The growing disparity between socio-economic classes has a direct impact on healthy life expectancy.
The decline in social protection mechanisms is excluding more and more people, families, etc. from decent living conditions.

Yet, when it comes to issues such as the environment, housing, employment, climate, etc., Europe cannot be solely blamed for them as it has important competences in these areas.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 6 : European medicines policy puts financial interests ahead of public health interests.

In a Europe of free markets, the pandemic has revealed the extent to which Western pharmaceutical companies can impose their interests in the face of major health challenges.

Patent protection, the absence of conditions attached to public subsidies and price-fixing mechanisms means that profits are privatised, with a significant proportion of research and development funding being passed on to governments (or their social security systems) and patients.

All too often, the pharmaceutical industry imposes its interests on genuinely innovative medicines, generic medicines, or medicines for rare diseases.

In many countries, shortages of certain medicines are by no means accidental. The countries of the South are also suffering from European protectionism in this area.

This topic interests you:

Sheet 7: The shortage of healthcare staff: working conditions and quality of care at risk!

Already under considerable pressure from the budget cuts that Europe has been demanding for years, the consequences of the pandemic have hit healthcare staff hard. Many professionals have fled the sector. Unfortunately, the lessons of this pandemic have not been learned.

In professions predominated by women, working hours have become so arduous and unpredictable that it is impossible to balance the demands of social and family life with such a profession in the long term.

The shortage of skilled workers is worsening due to poor working conditions and lack of ethical career prospects for young people, creating a vicious cycle. In their efforts to address the issue, the poorest nations often experience a double penalty; countries with better salaries quickly poach staff, regardless of the impact on local healthcare systems.

This topic interests you: