Health care must be available to absolutely everyone, not just a privileged few- Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY — According to Pope Francis, access to medical treatment is a basic human right that should not be considered a luxury reserved only for the wealthy, who should not be allowed to discriminate against those who are unable to afford it.

He said that when countries did not have a public health care system, they are bound to make divide people between those who could afford paid health care, and those who could not afford it and are left without health care. He spoke on June 4 to representatives of the Italian health care association, Federsanità.

Federsanità is a confederation of local health care institutions and hospitals, as stated on its website. Its goal is to support policies that have a strong orientation toward caring of patients closely with proactive, personalized, and involved service.

The Pope stated in his speech that proximity to patients was the antidote for self-reference and it would break the sacless of selfishness and enable medical professionals to view patients as their own, irrespective of language, geographies, social position, or condition of health.

Closeness to people would demand overcoming distances, ensuring equality among patients, providing time, energy,y and resources for inclusive health care,

According to what he had to say, those who work in the medical field need to embrace a more holistic approach to health treatment, one that takes into consideration not just a patient's ailment but also their psychological, spiritual, social, and cultural needs.

When Jesus heals a person, he removed his physical illness and restored dignity. He reintroduced him or her into society and gave them new life. The Pope said that only Jesus could do this, but an approach to the individual was a model for us.

Putting the dignity of the individual at the forefront, he said, was a way to counter the throwaway mindset that saw those who were unwell as a burden and involved a cost.

Sickness might spoil the body, weaken it and  confound ideas, but they can not make the human life worthless , he remarked. "Human life must always be preserved, from the time of conception until the time of its natural death."

Last but not least, Pope Francis stated that those working in the medical field have a responsibility to look out for the common good in order to negate the partisan interests. It was a situation where the political and economic interests of a group would not prevail rather the majority of the population would be served.

According to him, the current COVID-19 epidemic has shown that "every man was for himself" quickly transforms into "everyone was against everyone," hence extending the gap of inequality and creating conflict.

The Pope has said that it was vital to work toward ensuring that everyone has access to care and that the health care system is supported and promoted. He called for its continuation and said that it was crucial to guarantee access to care for everyone. It would be a heinous crime against humanity if funding for health care was reduced.