Madrid takes to the streets in defense of Public Healthcare against Ayuso's "privatizing model"

The streets of central Madrid are once again filled this Sunday in defense of Public Healthcare in a new mobilization called by the Plataforma Vecinos y Vecinas de los Barrios y Pueblos de Madrid, integrated by more than a hundred neighborhood associations, platforms, and social collectives. The protest will charge against what they consider a “privatizing” model promoted by the PP governments in the Community of Madrid.

Under the slogan “Saving our Public Healthcare is saving us all”, the demonstration repeats the format of previous multitudinous calls with four columns that will depart simultaneously from Atocha, Colón, Sevilla and Plaza de Dalí to converge in Cibeles. The organizers hope to re-edit the great mobilization registered in previous marches coinciding with the health conflicts of recent years.

The conveners denounce the progressive “dismantling” of Primary Care and demand to legally shield Public Healthcare to prevent new privatizations. They also demand that at least 25% of the health budget be allocated to health centers and criticize the long waiting lists, the lack of personnel, and the deterioration of out-of-hospital emergencies.

The protest is also held in a context of strong labor conflict in the health sector. Medical unions maintain strike days called to demand their own Framework Statute, the implementation of the 35-hour workday and salary and professional improvements. The conveners of the march assure that the current working conditions are expelling talent and aggravating the crisis of the public system of Madrid.

Another focus of the mobilization will be the waiting lists, which exceed 100,000 people awaiting surgery and accumulate hundreds of thousands of consultations and diagnostic tests delayed. The organizers consider that this situation favors a “covert privatization” by pushing many citizens towards private medical insurance.

Furthermore, the platforms denounce that Madrid continues to be one of the communities that invests the least per inhabitant in public healthcare despite the strong population growth in recent years. Against this, they demand greater funding, the reinforcement of public services, and reject that the migrant population is blamed for the health deterioration, insisting that the problem responds to political and management decisions.