The public health sector is in ruins because of the austerity and cuts imposed by the Anastasiades-DISY government

Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson

 AKEL C.C. Press Office, 23rd February 2016, Nicosia

On the pretext of the nurse’s strike mobilisation, AKEL wants to stress that the public health sector is indeed in dire straits, but not because of health professionals and the militant assertion of their demands. The public health sector is in ruins because of the austerity policies being imposed by the Anastasiades-DISY party government and the cuts of €185 million from the state budget for health, at the same time as the number of our compatriots who are seeking help from the public health sector for health and medical care has risen dramatically because of the crisis.

Despite the best efforts of the overwhelming majority of health workers and professionals, the public health sector is critically ill because of the social insensitivity of the government and ruling forces and their frantic pursuit to serve big private interests, private insurance companies and others. This has led to the indefinite postponement of the otherwise Memoranda obligation for the establishment of a General Health Scheme and for the reorganization/autonomy of hospitals.

Anyhow, the government and ruling forces would do well to get used now to seeing the people of labour and toil, and citizens in general, to demand and struggle to regain the dignity and rights denied them by the capitalist crisis, the robbery committed by the banks and the neoliberal “therapy” imposed by the domestic and external Troika.