On Universal Health Coverage Day, the Left in the European Parliament lends its full backing to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Right to Cure, which aims to make anti-pandemic treatments and cures a global public good, freely accessible to everyone.
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the extent to which pharmaceutical companies limit access to lifesaving medicines and profit from the public health crisis, while benefiting from billions of euros in public subsidies without having to forgo intellectual property rights. It also pointed at the urgent need for greater investment in public health systems and the need for protections against privatisation of our healthcare.