“The New Abduction of Europa” – Meeting of Movements in Madrid

Press Release

“The New Abduction of Europa” – Meeting of Movements in Madrid

From the 28^th of February through the 2^nd of March, representatives from a number of movements from throughout Europe met in Madrid to discuss “The New Abduction of Europa.”  For three days after long discussions of problems, listening to different opinions and considering the specific problems of individual countries, they endeavored to come to conclusions as to how the various communities should face the key social problems that affect us all.

Then groups were formed that tackled problems, such as public health, evictions/foreclosures, public debt, the privatization of public assets and utilities such as water and the environment.  They delved long and hard into all the aspects of the challenges to the democratic institutions of each country.  The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Hellinko was represented by its volunteer and co-founder, Dr. George Vichas, cardiologist.

According to Dr. Vichas, this meeting represents an essential step toward unifying the communities across Europe with a common vision so that they can strive together to create a community that will be able to take the destiny of its peoples into its own hands –a community based on fundamental human rights, on justice, on solidarity and democracy.

We participated in the group that dealt with health, and some of the conclusions were:

Greece stands out by being the most exceptionally shocking case in Europe of inhuman policies applied in the realm of health.  Dr. Vichas’ descriptions galvanized the representatives of other countries such as Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Ireland Germany and the United Kingdom who all agreed that the present situation in Greece is especially lethal.  They seemed to agree that in due time, if present policies are pursued, other European communities will follow the same catastrophic path as Greece and that sooner or later, other populations will be decimated.  Their impression of what is happening in Greece, as far as health is concerned, made them very uneasy and determined to strive together to avoid such a fate. 

As far as medical services are concerned, they quickly reached an obvious clear vision: the necessity for:

-                Free access to public health FOR ALL.

-                A relationship of mutual respect between patient and doctor – without the domination of either.  The doctor has to treat the patient as an individual and not as another example of a disease.

-                Medical care should be practiced by avoiding excessive use of medicines wherever possible.  Medical technology must not be allowed to exceed medical knowledge and experience, and without excessive use of medical tests.

-                To practice the philosophy of Hippocratic Medicine

In conclusion:  Health should be a public asset and concerns the whole of society.  So we, the citizens are the ones who manage its proper development.  The representatives of the movements that were present undertook to convey back to their communities the new visions and ideas reached at this meeting – which will, of course, lead to further discussion.  We at MCCH will follow these discussions through social networks.  The main point is that it should be an ongoing, continuous discussion and exchange of information by all those involved social movements in Europe.

Note:  It’s worth mentioning that MCCH is an unfunded organization.  The costs for our participating in this conference were covered by the hosts “Fundacion De Los Comunes” – who we warmly thank.

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CLINIC AT HELLINIKO 

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