The PCP general-secretary, Paulo Raimundo, announced this Saturday that he will put forward new proposals to defend the “right to health for all”, among them free medicine and non-emergency transport of the sick, for the most disadvantaged population.
The Communist leader was speaking in Viana do Castelo at the public session “In defense of the NHS and the right of all to Health”, where he assured that the party will not stop fighting for changes and the strengthening of the National Health Service (NHS). He called for the mobilisation of all “SNS militants” to join the fight and expressed little “apprehension” as to the position that the remaining parties will take towards his proposals.
“Given the need to ensure access to health care for all, the PCP will submit legislative initiatives to guarantee full reimbursement for medication for the elderly, the chronically ill and economically deprived users, and to ensure that non-urgent patient transport is free of charge, ensuring that everyone has access to travel in appropriate conditions to consultations, treatment and examinations they need,” said Paulo Raimundo, after announcing that the party will also schedule for discussion in the National Assembly Plenary a draft law proposing a change to the SNS Statute. An amendment that “focuses on eliminating the most negative guidelines of the diploma approved by the Government and on introducing the main measures to respond to the problems the SNS is currently facing”. And which proposes to “remove the various openings to hand over more services to private groups”, the “dignification and valorization” of professionals, the introduction of “an optional regime of exclusive dedication and rules to encourage settlement in needy areas”. In this proposal, the PCP also defends “the reinforcement of the number of health professionals and the true autonomy of the services to respond to the population’s needs.
Paulo Raimundo also remembered the lead of the proposal regarding “exclusivity” presented by the PCP in the Portuguese Parliament, by “PS, Chega e IL” and which counted with the abstention of the PSD.
“We will see how the other parties behave when faced with the proposals we will present. Dear friends and comrades, we have no special agenda, but we will see how they behave”, declared the communist general secretary, defending, on the other hand, that “a strong mobilization of our society is necessary: of health professionals and their unions, of the population, of the user commissions, of the civic associations, of many personalities that unequivocally position themselves in defense of the SNS”.