Health care is not for sale! No to corporate takeover!

 Article taken from the Rebel City website: https://rebelcitylondon.wordpress.com/





More than 50 GPs surgeries in London alone have been taken over by the massive US Centene Corporation (1). And meanwhile, as Newham Save Our NHS has been warning us for some time (2), NHS Digital is on track - delayed until mid-September - to hand our medical data over to what they describe as various health bodies, Universities, and indeed pharmaceutical companies, all claiming to be acting in the interests of our collective health and well-being (3).

How else is collective health to be advanced?
Wouldn't an anarchist society do the same?
Well, no!

In an anarchist society the different bodies listed would be cooperating genuinely for our health and well-being. In a capitalist society, private health bodies, business-friendly University research, and pharmaceutical companies operate for their share holders' profit. Medical research that can't be profitable simply doesn't happen! 

Not surprisingly the plan for the CIA-founded Palantir data giant to "administer"  the project has met with threats of court  action - by Foxglove (2) and OpenDemocracy. The government is "reviewing" the proposal, agreeing to public consultation etc. Though whether they're genuine, have figured out how to end up with the same result anyway, or just hoping we'll forget about it - you decide!

There is a more fundamental issue here which the increasing privatisation of the NHS illustrates. Health in the UK is being turned from a halfway public good to a straight-forward commodity. And data is the fastest growing market around. Whether companies have to buy the data, or simply pay a processing fee, is in the end irrelevant.

Capitalism's relentless drive to turn everything we use and need into a source of profit has to be fought every inch of the way.

 (1) https://weownit.org.uk/blog/here-are-gp-practices-taken-over-us-health-insurance-giant-centene
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrS6_GCXtDE
(3) https://www.ft.com/content/9fee812f-6975-49ce-915c-aeb25d3dd748

 Meanwhile - Opt Out Now!!

 Follow the link below- and you'll get an email confirmation




Make your choice about sharing data from your health records - NHS

An NHS number is a 10 digit number, like 485 777 3456. You can find your NHS number by logging in to a GP online service or on any document sent to you by the NHS, such as your:

www.nhs.uk



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