Health

One of the highlights of the World Public Service Day, commemorated on 23 June, was the rally held in the centre of the city of São Paulo and organised by the National Confederation of Social Security Workers affiliated to the trade union centre CUT and by the São Paulo State Union of Public Sector Health Workers.

In Quebec, there is no end to reforms in the health and social services sector, which have an adverse psychological impact on the workforce. For more than 20 years, health workers have had to constantly adapt to new standards, guidelines and structures, as determined by different governments.

“What do we want? Healthcare. When do we want it? Now!” These and other chants of protesters echoed off the white marble-clad U.S. Capitol during a recent protest led by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

The national federation of nurses in Brazil (Federação Nacional dos Enfermeiros, FNE), has worked for many years to obtain better working conditions, fair working hours and decent pay for nurses across the country, including in São Paulo. Despite the economic crisis, it continues to fight on behalf of thousands of nurses to allow them a better quality of life which would also enable them to provide better care for patients.

On 2 August, Grygorii Osovyi, President of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) and Viktoriia Koval, President of the Health Workers’ Union of Ukraine (HWUU), her deputy Iryna Shvets, and FPU staff members met Tristan Masat, AFL-CIO Solidarity Center Country Program Director to discuss the current state of the healthcare system in Ukraine.

EPSU (European Federation of Public Service Unions) and HOSPEEM (European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association) organised a two-day Conference on Continuing Professional Development in Amsterdam, on 19-20 June, with the theme: “Working together, learning together – Switching to the learning mode.”

On 20 July 2017, nurses from the southern Indian State of Kerala achieved an inspiring victory resulting in a substantial increase in wages. This was after a month long struggle, during which they stood resolute against all efforts by the private hospitals industry to break their will.

Korean health unions are very satisfied with the new spirit of of tripartite social dialogue in the country, which on 12 July led to the signing of a collective agreement at Green hospital in Seoul to: increase staffing levels; create more jobs by fully implementing nursing/caregiving integrated services; create jobs by shortening working hours and regularize the employment of workers on contract jobs in hospitals.

The health workers’ union, SOLSICO, organized a public discussion forum on health in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More than 150 participants from government, health unions, employers, international organisations and civil society discussed three themes: the health system in the DRC and its challenges, the right to health, and the determinants of health.

Health care is a measure of human development. When we analyse the health situation in the Arab countries, it soon becomes clear that there are obstacles to obtaining quality healthcare for all. Those most in need of health services, the poor and disabled, do not receive the essential care they deserve.