Lessons from the Philippines: Public Health, Privatization, and Women's Activism

Excerpt:

“We are one in the belief that health is a basic right that cannot be made to follow the logic of profit. There is a difference between being efficient in our use of resources and the criminal assault that has resulted from such “reform measures” like user fees, health sector reform and privatization that purportedly increase cost-efficiency and self-sufficiency. We believe in the standard of accessible, appropriate and competent health care for all. The multinational corporations, the IMF-WB, and our own governments attempt to convince us that this is impossible and should not be the gold standard. They are wrong. Their attempts to find a better system have failed. They may fight all the ideological battles they like, spend endless sums on research and pilot projects, talk about effective safety nets for the victims of globalization, and blame as many victims of corporate greed for their own ill health or death. The truth of the matter is, unbridled capitalism, the kind increasingly pushed by neoliberal globalization is contradictory to the kind of health care necessary to ensure human dignity.”

Sylvia Estrada-Claudio, M.D. PhD