Minister García joins the meeting and denounces that Health in Madrid “is made up of foxes”: “What is being defended today is democracy”
MADRID, 19 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A total of 18,000 people joined the march this Sunday which, under the slogan ‘Madrid remains standing for public health’, denounced in the streets of the capital the “privatizing policies” of the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso as well as the “lack of investment and the absence of professionals.”
Called by the citizen space of Vecinos y Vecinas de Barrios y Pueblos de Madrid and supported by the left-wing parties of the region as well as by unions and personalities from the world of culture, the demonstration started at 12 noon from four points of the capital (Plaza Legazpi, Nuevos Ministerios, Plaza de España and La Princesa Hospital). These columns have joined together to end the protest in the Plaza de Cibeles.
“Hands up, this is a robbery”, “Quality healthcare, that is freedom” or “Ayuso resign, people won’t admit you” were some of the slogans heard during the tour, in which As in other health protests, the regional president’s ninot, almost two and a half meters high, which they call ‘La Pinocha’, has been paraded around. In addition, deaths during the pandemic in residences have also been reported, shouting ‘They are not deaths, they are murders’.
Thus, banners full of scissors with slogans such as ‘Enough of so much hypocrisy’, ‘100% public and quality healthcare’, ‘Stealing Healthcare, yes, it is murder’ or ‘Ayuso closes health centers for us’ have flooded some from the streets of the capital to denounce, in the words of the organizers, the “irresponsibility” of the regional Executive and its commitment to “a combination of privatization and stinginess in investment”, both in human resources and citizens.
Problems such as underfunding, waiting lists, out-of-hospital emergency care, a shortage of professionals of all categories, especially nurses and doctors, or the “mistreatment” of MIRs have been put on the table.
The number of attendees, 18,000, according to the Government Delegation, is far from those reached in the protests of the last legislature in the two massive demonstrations in defense of Public Health. On November 13, 2022, they took 200,000 people to the streets of the capital and on February 12, 2023, they mobilized 250,000 people again.
“SOMETHING AS BASIC AS AN ASSIGNED DOCTOR”
Ana Encinas, spokesperson for the convening platform, has demanded that the region return to having the public healthcare “that it had a few years ago” and that it return to “having something as basic as an assigned doctor, an appointment at a health center in two or three days, not in ten or fifteen, out-of-hospital emergencies with complete equipment” as well as hospitals that do not have “a huge waiting list.”
“In all categories and at all levels there is a lack of staff, and we are all suffering from the systematic dismantling and desecration of our work. We have to be working in conditions that do not allow us to give decent attention to anyone,” he criticized in statements. to Europa Press. Encinas sees as a priority “investing the money necessary to hire personnel” as well as “stop diverting public money to private companies.”
For her part, Carmen López, from Marea de Residencias, has stated that they demand “universal public healthcare for all citizens of Madrid because absolutely everything is being privatized.” In 2020, she recalled, people who lived “in residences” already “lost” that right to healthcare. “7,291 people died in an undignified and cruel manner without health care,” she denounced, and then stressed that the system must be “strengthened” so that “what happened never happens again.”
For the Madrid Pensioners Association, Elena has put on the table that the region’s public health system was “the envy of foreigners” but it has been left “in rot.” “Public healthcare is very important, and they want to take it away and take us to private healthcare,” she said.
Individually, Conchi, María and Pilar have approached the demonstration and have told Europa Press that “every day they realize that things are worse” and, specifically, they have denounced that “a year has to pass for the specialists take care of them.
María del Rosario and Juan Ángel have also considered that “everything” has worsened and the “privatization” of Health that they are carrying out has disfigured the regional Government. “It’s impossible for us to have a bigger reason,” added Antonio, who said he was “very proud” of the health workers.
HEALTH MUST BE “SHIELDED”, SAYS THE MINISTER
The Minister of Health, Mónica García, also joined the meeting, defending that public health “is the heart of the Welfare State” and recalled that she has also been in these protests when she was a health professional. “What is defended here today is democracy. What is defended here today is the health of all citizens,” she remarked.
Following the motto ‘Health is not for sale, Health is defended’, García has emphasized that his Ministry seeks to “shield” this, against “those who, far from this, want to “continue looting.” They are committed to health being focused “yes or yes on the health of citizens.”
The minister also wanted to send a message to Ayuso and put on the table that if she dedicated the same time to talking about her and “confronting the Government of Spain” to “taking care of the public health of Madrid” she would not be “made some foxes.
“Once again here we are defending public health and rebelling against the failed Ayuso model. A health model that mistreats patients, that makes professionals precarious and that benefits the Quiron group and all private insurers,” criticized the spokeswoman for More Madrid, Manuela Bergerot.
He defends, as he has stated, “health professionals” because it is necessary to “take care” of those who “care” and has valued the work of the Ministry of Health in its commitment to “shield public health.”
THEY ASK AYUSO TO “LISTEN”
“It is evident that in historical terms Madrid has had the best hospitals, the best professionals… but objectively today, instead of getting better, we are getting worse,” denounced the PSOE spokesperson in the Assembly, Juan Lobato, who has demanded that Ayuso “listen to citizens”, “pay attention” and dedicate herself “to what is important, to what affects people’s daily lives.”
In this sense, he has stressed that people demand “the right to have quality of life in Madrid.” “Quality of life is a Health that protects us, that takes care of our children, our parents and that we can feel safe,” she then stressed.
“RESUSCITATION MEASURES” ARE NECESSARY
The general secretary of UGT Madrid, Marina Prieto, and that of CC.OO Madrid, Paloma López, also wanted to express their support for the event.
“While the Madrid Public Health System enters a situation of cardiac arrest, the regional government refuses to introduce resuscitation measures,” the former denounced in statements distributed to the media, where it criticized the fact that they are dedicated to “charging” the central Executive. while healthcare is in “absolute collapse” and in a situation of “absolute precariousness.”
López has denounced that “the fiscal policy of the Community of Madrid is leading to an absolute deterioration of all public services” and Health “is one of the main victims.”