Corfu Secondary School Teachers΄ Union supports and will participate in Corfu protest rally for public health

Corfu Workers Centre, the Corfu Prefectural Section of ADEDY, and the Pensioners’ Organisations of IKA, OAEE, and Civil Servants call on workers, the self-employed, pensioners, young people, and the entire people of Corfu to give a mass response to the tragic state of public healthcare on our island.

The situation at Corfu General Hospital is critical and dangerous. The degradation is a deliberate choice. There are massive shortages of doctors and nursing staff, exhausted workers, clinics operating below capacity, and the public forced either to pay out of their own pockets or to be transferred off the island for even basic medical care. The health of the people is being pushed into the background.

Workers live in fear of the moment when they may need hospital care, because they know the tragic conditions that prevail and the ordeal that awaits them.

At the same time, governments demonstrate through their choices what their real priorities are: undermining the coverage of people’s needs while simultaneously supporting large business groups. Millions of euros are handed out in subsidies, tax breaks, and so-called “development” packages for big capital, while for healthcare “there is no money.”

It is an outrage that millions of tourists arrive in Corfu every year, that major tourism groups reap enormous profits, and yet the island lacks even basic healthcare infrastructure for its own people. It is an outrage that Corfu is advertised as a “top destination” while its residents fear whether they will find a doctor when they fall ill.

At the same time, billions are directed toward the war economy, armaments, and imperialist plans, while the people are crushed by high prices, poverty, and insecurity. There is money for wars, but not for our health and our lives. It is an insult to witness the decline of healthcare services while vast sums are spent on purposes unrelated to meeting the people’s needs.

We will not tolerate this situation any longer! Health is a right, not a commodity.

WE DEMAND:

• The immediate full staffing of Corfu Hospital, Health Centres, and the Ambulance Service (EKAB) with permanent medical and nursing personnel.

• Modern, public, and free healthcare services for all people, with no out-of-pocket payments for afternoon surgeries, examinations, or medicines.

• Substantial state funding for public healthcare, not for business groups, and no involvement or spending on war plans while the people’s needs remain unmet.

Photo: Enimerosi