Independent Youth
Association – CYPRUS

Comments:
It is a fact that free healthcare is a universal human right. It is the building block of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that foresees the equality and freedom of dignity and rights of all human beings without any discrimination, and states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. Today, the whole world is going through a global pandemic; and, except a very few successful examples. It can be said that most of the states and their healthcare systems that they provide to their citizens failed and are still failing to give an effective response to Covid-19 pandemic. Both economically strong and weak, developed and underdeveloped countries are facing devastating effects of the virus within every sphere of life. However, the production of vaccines by different states and widening use of various vaccines as the latest developments, created a degree of feeling of hope towards the global situation formed by the pandemic. On the other hand, while developed countries and some of the developing countries are able to produce their own vaccines or purchase adequate number of vaccines; underdeveloped countries do not have a suffi cient infrastructure to produce vaccine and cannot afford to purchase vaccines. Therefore, the importance of the role of international organizations, especially the United Nations, is increasing in order to provide an equal and free spread of vaccines in the world, to support healthcare systems of various countries and to protect more lives of people throughout the world.

Demands:
The United Nations should take an action to help the developing and underdeveloped world because the virus will continue to spread if developed countries use vaccines and other effective methods to fi ght against the Covid-19 only for themselves. Furthermore, it is unethical to let people of the poor countries suffer more because of the pandemic.

• Firstly, the COVAX Initiative of the World Health Organization should be kept on the agenda of the UN and the world persistently. The UN should encourage all of the vaccine producers and states to get their support to create the pool of vaccines more comprehensively.
• Secondly, IMF and the World Bank should develop and formulate new economic policies in order to support healthcare system to countries with low GDP per capita. By fi nancial aids, underdeveloped countries can improve their healthcare systems and the spread of virus in those certain countries can be slowed down.
• Thirdly, the United Nations should be an intermediary to bilateral or multilateral agreements among states that aim to help each other and to promote spread of vaccines.

Students‘ Federation of
INDIA

Comments:
A global pandemic such as the one the world has been witnessing for over a year now makes the necessity of a strong and suffi cient healthcare system, that everyone can fall back upon regardless of their socio-economic condition, all the more important and vital. If we are to believe that every human has the right to live, then we must realize that the right to free healthcare comes as a subset to that idea. The idea that more money will fetch better healthcare provisions is absurd, unfair and downright cruel; we simply cannot have people ignoring their health or avoiding check-ups simply because they do not have medical insurances and know that they will not be able to afford the prescribed tests or medicines. This has proved to be extremely dangerous in recent times, not just for the patients themselves, but their families and society at large, too. Many Covid-19 patients have avoided getting tested, which has resulted in the increasing number of cases throughout the country. Especially in a time like this, when a large number of workers have lost their jobs, or have had a pay cut, making them pay exorbitant bills makes the existing inequality between classes all the more evident. Heath is one of the most basic aspects in a person’s life, which needs looking after, and the fulfilment of that need should not depend on how much money someone owns; Universal free healthcare should be a basic right for all.

Demands:
• Everyone should have access to free healthcare of superior quality; the quality of the medical care should not be compromised just because it is free. Governments should allot a higher percentage of their budgets towards healthcare to make this happen.
• More emphasis needs to be put in medical researches; the stipends/allowances of the researches should be increased.
• Free healthcare should include free universal access to therapy for the overall wellbeing of mental health.

Lucie F. Razafimandimby
& Saroy Remanevy
MADAGASCAR

Comments:
Madagascar is a country in which a big part of the population can’t have access to water, food, education, health etc… However, the island has still shown a strong will to fi gure in with the countries that ensure a juridical protection of human health. In fact, the actual malagasy constitution mentioned in it’s 19th article : «The state recognizes and organises for every individual the right to health’s protection from it’s conception by the organisation of free public healthcare, in which the free care results from the capacity of national solidarity », while making the Universal Declaration of Human Rights hers. Madagascar is also a country that is caracterised by it’s strong attachment to traditional values. The fi ght against the pandemic has resulted in a throwback to traditional medicine which always had a fondamental place in malagasy society. This throwback that has been legitimated by an alternative against Covid-19,has awaken a feeling of unity between the nationals that had found in this alternative a recognition of their culture, which has been affi rmed and confirmed.

This attachment to traditional medicine is explained primarly by a psychological ensurance. Secondly, traditional medicine is more accessible financially (an important number of the population lives under poverty), and also practical because it has the role of first aid in remote places.

But, even with all of that, the access to free healthcare is still an ideal to reach ;a consequent number of the population can’t have access to healthcare due to the lack of basic health centers, dispensaries, hospitals in the countryside, for exemple, and even less the access to free healthcare. By the way, the sanitary crisis has been a revelation of inequalities in the access to healthcare, by putting the light on irregularities, anomalies, treatments and problems that fall in the malagasy’s health domain. It’s in that point of vue that the access to free healthcare as a human right constitute an alternative against the inequalities in it’s accession but will certainly contribute in reducting the mortality rate caused by the lack of free healthcare. In the social level, it would play the role of balancing social inequalities due to the inequality of treatments in the health’s domain.

Demands:
• That good health, as the fi rst condition to allow the enjoyment of rights and liberties, should be recognized as a human right and that every States should reunite all the conditions, necessary means and a favorable environment for the enjoyment of this right.
• An enhancement of the control of the effectivity of the human rights in every country by a local independent organ, objective and timeless, all of that followed by a compain of intense sensibilisation and insertion of the population to the knowledge, enjoyment and protection of the access to free healthcare.
• That the access to free healthcare implies an equal accession without discrimination, a quality care and a multicultural environment that respects the values and local practices.

Etienne
Raveloson Fanomeza
MADAGASCAR

Comments:
It would be wonderful in a perfect world to have free healthcareHowever, Free healthcare implementation in a country imposes binding obligations on the state.As we all know, ‘nothing is free in Life’. Who is going to pay for the doctors and nurses and hospitals and medicines and equipment etc… Governments get all their money from taxes. If they don’t get enough money from their citizens and businesses in tax, then they don’t have enough to spend. As there in the UK,they have free healthcare – and free schooling but at a huge cost to the taxpayer. Everyone employee pays a minimum of 25 per cent tax, rising to 40 per cent for higher earners. All services and products are taxed. One pays tax on everything one spends. Even when one dies one gets taxed on one’s estate. In developing countries such as in Africa, where very few people pay tax, it would be impossible to have free health care. It is just too expensive to provide. They have their National Health Service there in the UK but it struggles all the time to provide a good service even with billions of pounds provided by the Government (taxpayer) each year.
Suggestions:

Demands:
• Like Madagascar certainly needs more tax inspectors to make sure that businesses and eople pay their taxes. Everyone hates to pay taxes but if one wants a Government to give a good service to the people, it needs to be properly funded by people and businesses all paying their tax…
• developing countries must develop a long term business plan for physicians integration,for their salary
• limit the population growth to avoid overcrowding then then state can provide free healthcare to everyone
• before people pay taxes, then they must have work so the infrastructure construction must be prior especially in the developing countries where joblessness and homeless are increasing. In conclusion, free healthcare is the common dream of everybody as human rights.But so far, the developing countries face a lot of economic crisis especially after this pandemic of covid 19 striking the entire world.

Revolutionary Students
Front – PAKISTAN

Comments:
Today, people are not only suffering from Covid Virus but are also hurting from a broken, expensive and out of reach health care system. In countries like Pakistan where two-third of the population was already forced to resort to the non-scientific methods of health care, the situation is dire. The ruthless destruction of the environment by this profi t-driven system has ushered in an era where the healthcare system will be humanity’s first line of defence. The regressive policies of the World Bank and IMF to privatise health care will further shrink the reach turning this situation into a human crisis. Given the challenges, we are facing today it has become necessary to acknowledge free healthcare as a basic human right. Furthermore, scientific inventions are a result of collective human development hence we believe it’s the right of every human being to receive the covid vaccine free. The current profi t and competition-based approach have failed to manage the socio-economic crisis. We will have to replace it with a need and cooperation based approach if we are to survive on this planet otherwise extinction awaits humanity.

Demands:
• Free health care physical and mental health must be provided to every single human being with a standard universal quality.
• Selling of health care in any form must be banned and declared a crime against humanity.

Justin B. Geißler
GERMANY

Comments:
Human rights form a realistic utopia,cwhich is the ideal objective of a just society. The right to free health care is not only a question of good living conditions and a just society in the face of a global pandemic, rather, health is an essential basic condition for every human action. Some are born in countries where there is national health care to which everyone is legally entitled. Others will wake up worried about damage to their health, and they will accept damages to their health due to a lack of material resources. This is due to the fact that medical care is so expensive that people cannot effort it. However, there will always be a portion of any society that will be able to afford good quality health care, even when it comes at a high price. In light of the current pandemic, it is essential, to remember hat the risk for future global pandemics will increase due to the fact that we are facing species extinction and climate change. This will be problematic especially for people that don’t have access to free health care. They will either not be able to receive quality health care or seek it too late to avoid fi nancial ruin or in the worstcase starvation. Both will further inequality and violation of human rights of many people. Are we encountering an institutionally produced inequality that is politically wanted? Therefore, the author sees the need for free health care for everybody.

Demands:
The author is of the opinion that free healthcare is a human right:
• Everyone must have the right to free healthcare. This right includes free access to healthcare, which enables people to receive the best care to ensure their health.
• In order to work towards realizing and respecting human rights, it is essential that healthcare is further developed institutionally and medically.

Federation of University
Students of ECUADOR

Comments:
I believe that it is a great initiative to send the Letter to the Secretary of the United Nations, it seems to me that we should address the letter stating that health is a universal human right and that governments have the obligation to provide the population free of charge, health care. comprehensive and quality health. universal. Secondly, I believe that we must point out the importance of guaranteeing international cooperation mechanisms in financing in order to help countries where their health system has collapsed. And the third thing is that the Covid vaccine is NOT marketed, and we urge governments to make vaccination plans transparent to the population so that business is not generated at the expense of health.

Law Students’ Union of
SRI LANKA

Comments:
• We are currently facing a global pandemic unlike any we have faced in the recent history. This is a completely novel situation not only for us as the general public, but also for the health care sector as well.
• Close analysis of different countries illustrate that while some countries have fared well, most countries have crumbled at the face of this virus. It can be seen that countries which have prompted asymptomatic patients and patients with mild symptoms to stay at home without resorting to hospitals for healthcare have not managed to grab control of the situation. These are mostly countries which do not provide free healthcare. Even if the government policy does not restrict the asymptomatic and patients with mild symptoms from resorting to hospitals, they themselves would be hesitant to do so aching to hefty medical bills and insurance charges.
• However it was seen that countries which promote free healthcare had higher rates of admission of asymptomatic patients to treatment centers at least if not for hospitals and thus were better equipped to control the situation to a certain extent.
• We believe that COVID19 global pandemic was an eye-opener for all countries and International Organizations to indicate it is time the World recognized free health care as a human right and that it should be read and interpreted in consistency with the right to life.

Demands:
• To declare free health care as a Human Right and to make available globally. Also to ensure that all member states take necessary measures to provide free healthcare to ALL its citizens.
• To improve the infrastructure of Public Health universally and to initiate awareness campaigns to educate the public of personal hygiene and measures to be taken to protect oneself from infectious diseases.

Federation of Students of
PERU

Of our special consideration,
Greetings from the Glorious and Centenary Federation of Students of Peru (FEP), the highest union of student representation in schools, colleges and universities nationwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of the health system in Latin America, therefore, the students of Peru reaffi rm our demand for health as a human right, in this sense, we are ready to collaborate in whatever is required to establish new forms of organization of the states to protect public health from private interests that are negotiating with the lives of the people.

In Peru there are many examples where human rights are commercialized due to the negligence of the state, which does not fulfi ll its role as guarantor of fundamental rights. That is why the FEP demands a New Constitution for the Republic, whichcrecovers the rights of all and protectschealth, education and others, fromcthe mafi as that traffic with the lives of Peruvians. Without further ado, we attach the contact information at the end of the document, reiterating our greetings with fraternal appreciation and personal esteem.

With our best regards,

Youth Syriza – GREECE

Comments:
• We face an unprecedent health crisis. The response of world governments is lukewarm at best. The current infrastructure, personnel and organisational structures cannot guarantee that all civilians receive the appropriate level of healthcare.
• The dominant neo-liberal paradigm influences health related policy making. Health is seen as a merchandise. All actions that support the public health system are thus unthinkable in the current political constellation.
• The constant barrage of tough lockdown measures and the worsening of the labour conditions have a negative impact on the well-being of civilians. Mental illness, especially among youth and the elderly is growing rampant and unchecked.
• It is very hard to totally isolate a group of people from the rest of the world. High rates of infections spread quickly. The nature of the pandemic means that the world is connected in this fight. Higher health care standards worldwide translates to fewer deaths and/or infections everywhere.

ter extent; they will be able to afford any good and possible health care. An institutionally produced inequality that is politically wanted? The author sees the need for free health care as given here. But there is still a brief outlook: we are facing the extinction of species and climate change today as well as in the near and distant future with increasing intensity, which in its conse-quences (increasing risk of pandemics) will inevitably exacerbate the question of human health.

Demands:
The world governments have to ensure high quality treatment for all civilians. The U.N can help governments to take the necessary action by:
• Openly declaring access to health care as a universal right. All member nations should pledge to offer free health care to all civilians. A UN ranking list can show how well member states adopt changes to their health policy making.
• The U.N. should launch a campaign with the purpose of educating the population on various health related subjects such as the importance of free universal health care and the basics f vaccination.
• The U.N. guidelines to governments and individuals should be updated to include advice on the mental aspect of the pandemic.