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Resolution 1946 (2013) Final version
Equal access to health care
1. The right to health is a fundamental
human right. Protection of health is an essential condition for
social cohesion and economic stability and represents one of the
indispensable pillars of development. Access to care is a key aspect
of the right to health.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly observes that inequalities in access
to health care are growing in the Council of Europe member States.
Various factors are at the root of this phenomenon, including financial, geographical
and language barriers, corruption, socio-economic inequalities and
certain migration and security policies which are unmindful of health
needs. The economic crisis has led to budget cuts in many countries, forced
by austerity policies, thereby putting pressure on health systems.
Several countries have therefore introduced or increased charges
payable by patients, particularly for essential health services.
3. The Assembly notes that inequalities in access to care, including
mental health care, particularly affect vulnerable groups, including
people experiencing financial problems such as the unemployed, single-parent families,
children and the elderly, as well as Roma, refugees, migrants – especially
those in an irregular situation – transgender persons, persons in
detention and homeless people. These inequalities lead to a phenomenon
of non-recourse or delayed recourse to care, which could have disastrous
implications for both individual and public health and lead in the
long term to an increase in health expenditure.
4. Recalling its Resolution
1884 (2012) “Austerity measures – a danger for democracy
and social rights”, the Assembly once again draws attention to the
negative impact of austerity measures on social rights and their effects
on the most vulnerable categories. In this connection, it notes
with concern the impact which the economic crisis and austerity
measures have had on the accessibility of care in several member
countries, including Greece, which is now faced with a health, and
even humanitarian crisis and an increase in xenophobic and racist
acts against refugees and migrants.
5. The Assembly believes that the crisis should be viewed as
an opportunity to rethink health systems and be used to increase
their efficiency, and not as an excuse for taking retrograde measures.
6. The Assembly therefore calls on the Council of Europe member
States to:
6.1. reduce, where appropriate,
the proportion of health expenditure payable by the most disadvantaged
patients and take all other necessary measures to ensure that the
cost of care does not hinder access to care, including the promotion
of increased use of generic drugs;
6.2. ensure the accessibility of health care facilities and
health professionals throughout the territory by taking appropriate
measures, having recourse where appropriate to incentive measures;
6.3. ensure the accessibility of information on the health
system, including vaccination and screening programmes, and set
up health education programmes, while taking account of the specific
needs of the different vulnerable groups and of the requirement
to reduce language barriers to a minimum;
6.4. ensure that pregnant women and children, as a particularly
vulnerable group, have full access to health care and social protection,
irrespective of their status;
6.5. simplify the administrative procedures required to be
able to receive health care;
6.6. introduce measures to combat corruption in the health
sector, in close co-operation with the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO);
6.7. dissociate their security and immigration policies from
health policy, where appropriate by abolishing the obligation on
health professionals to report migrants in an irregular situation;
6.8. introduce training policies for health professionals stressing
the need to combat arbitrary applications, discrimination and corruption
in the health sector.