Dressed in white robes and beating drums, many chanted: “Cuts to public health are a crime.”
Tens of thousands of health workers demonstrated in Madrid today against what they say is the destruction of the public health system by the conservative regional government.
Dressed in white robes and beating drums, many chanted: “Cuts to public health are a crime.”
Madrid’s regional government, led by Isabel Diaz Ayuso of the Popular Party, has come under fire in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, for staff shortages in hospitals and primary health care centers.
Protesters say the regional government is dismantling public health services and favoring private health providers.
Dressed in a Haru uniform and holding a fake scythe, one protester held a sign that read: “I am Ayuso’s plan for (the) emergency unit.”
“We have about 40 or 50 patients a day and we can give them about six minutes each. The problem is that they don’t allow us to provide proper care to patients,” Ana Enquinas, 62, a doctor who has worked in primary care in Madrid for 37 years, told Reuters.
Ayuso denies accusations that her government is dismantling public health services in favor of the private sector and says the protests and strikes are being orchestrated by left-wing parties ahead of this year’s municipal and regional elections to undermine the conservative regional government.
In November, tens of thousands of people marched in central Madrid in support of health workers demanding better working conditions.
RES-EMP
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