Several hundred thousand demonstrators gathered in Madrid today to defend the public health system in the Spanish capital region and to demonstrate against a plan to reform the sector.
With a central slogan “Madrid unites to support the public health system against the plan to destroy it”, crowds of people gathered on a sunny autumn afternoon in four parts of the Spanish capital, before marching to the city hall.
The demonstration was attended by 200,000 people, according to a regional government spokesman, 650,000 according to organizers.
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“A health care system for all, your health should never depend on your wallet,” read a large green banner, as thousands of protesters chanted “a public health system!”
The demonstration, organized following a call by local associations and municipalities, targets the health policies of the mayor of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, one of the personalities of the Popular Party (PP). Ayuso wants to develop public-private partnerships and restructure the local healthcare system.
Spain’s socialist government gave its support to the protesters.
“Madrid is the region that invests the least money in health per inhabitant. The national average is 1,700 euros per inhabitant and in Madrid it is 1,300 euros,” said the Minister of the Presidency of the Spanish government, Félix Bolanos.
“It is the region with the fewest doctors and nurses per capita,” he added.
According to him, the crisis in the region’s public health system is due to a “disastrous management” by the PP regional government.
Source: News Beast
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