Ilda Figueiredo, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – (PT) Access to healthcare is recognised as a fundamental human right. Yet large sections of the population are still not guaranteed this access.

The UN’s Millennium Development Goals include reducing by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five, reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality rate, halting and beginning to reverse the spread of AIDS and halting and beginning to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. The time has come to prevent the deaths of many millions of children and women due to a lack of primary healthcare, mother and child health, sexual and reproductive health, water and sanitation infrastructure, and education, including education in the field of health.

For this to happen, there needs to be greater solidarity between the most developed countries. We therefore feel it is vitally important to provide active support for training doctors in developing countries and access to medical training for students from rural and remote regions. In this regard, I wish to highlight the remarkable example of Cuba in training, free of charge, thousands of doctors and other healthcare personnel to work in Africa and Latin America.

It is similarly crucial to deliver access to high-quality, free, public healthcare services for all throughout the EU, which is not the case as things stand, due to the macroeconomic approach of the Stability and Growth Pact. In some countries there have been serious backward steps, as is the case in Portugal at the moment, and this is exacerbating poverty and social exclusion.

We have therefore tabled a number of amendments to the joint resolution, which will hopefully be adopted. On this World Health Day, what is needed, Commissioner, is for this debate to be followed up by action.