Geneeskunde voor het Volk
Geneeskunde voor het Volk (GvhV) - Medicine for the People - is a Belgian association of doctors that offers free health care.
The association based in Hoboken (Antwerp) was founded on January 4, 1971 by doctors Kris Merckx and Michel Leyers and was an initiative of AMADA, the forerunner organization of the Belgian Workers' Party (PVDA), founded in 1971 . It is one of the most successful run-up organizations of this party and is open to everyone. The organization consists of eleven polyclinics spread across Belgium with 53 doctors, 50 employees and 72 volunteers. The doctors of this organization also call themselves rode artsen ("red doctors"). According to the company's own information, more than 35,000 patients are currently registered with the practices. The first neighborhood groups of the PVDA , which also worked successfully in elections , formed around the GVHV health centers .
history
Emerge
On January 4, 1971, the two activists of AMADA (the forerunner organization of the Belgian Workers' Party ) founded in 1971 , Kris Merckx and Michel Layers , opened their outpatient clinic ( polyclinic ) in what was then the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken and thus laid the first cornerstone for the later organization Geneeskunde voor het Volk . At this point in time, Merckx was already well-known throughout the country as a high-ranking person at AMADA.
The two doctors became known nationwide through lead poisoning , which they found in children in the residential area of the metalworking company Union Minière . Merckx and Leyers found the company to be the cause of the lead pollution, this was also confirmed by the authorities and Union Minière was sentenced to short-term compensation payments of 1.5 million francs (around 37 million euros). This first success of the AMADA doctors led to the long-term establishment of AMADA and later the Labor Party in Hoboken.
In 1972 Kris Merckx was expelled from the Medical Association (the medical professional association) because of unfair competition. AMADA called for solidarity: Sympathizers, AMADA members, a delegation of shipyard workers and some students who had traveled in buses prevented an expulsion. Merckx also survived a court hearing unscathed. During this time the organization was named Geneeskunde voor het Volk.
The logo was designed in 1973 by the artist and sculptor Marc Jambers . It shows a fist firmly clutching a cross with a staff of Aesculapius .
successor
In the next few years, new polyclinics were opened as planned in working-class neighborhoods, where the PVDA is now performing above average:
| Opening date | place |
|---|---|
| 4th January 1971 | Hoboken |
| 1974 | Genk |
| 1976 | Lommel |
| November 1977 | Zelzate |
| 1980 | Deurne |
| Herstal | |
| Seraing | |
| Marcinelle | |
| Schaarbeek | |
| Molenbeek | |
| La Louvière |
In 1974, Harrie Dewitte opened a second polyclinic, but first he went underground like the other doctors to work as a miner in the Winterslag coal mine. The polyclinic was primarily aimed at the health of workers and their families. In cooperation with shop stewards of the trade unions, it was possible to reduce the number of accidents at work by half. Genk's group practice also played a major role in the treatment of pneumonia .
Two years later, in 1976, Staf Hendrickx started in Lommel .
Frans Van Acoleyen opened a center in Zelzate in 1977 . He also has a seat on the local council. The Toer de Frans cycle tour, which takes place every year , was created on his initiative and has developed into a local folk festival.
In 1980 two new polyclinics were opened. Johan Vandepaer started the first center in Wallonia in Herstal . Deurne also received a GvhV center. a. Dirk van Duppen.
Between 1982 and 2000 five more centers were added: in Seraing , Marcinelle , Schaarbeek , Molenbeek and La Louvière .
Working method
The organization aims to provide high quality, accessible, and free basic health care to everyone. In her opinion, health is a fundamental right for everyone.
Until 2002, patients in Belgium had to pay in advance for the bill after a doctor's visit and were reimbursed for the costs after deducting a co - payment from the health insurers. The fees of the “Red Doctors” are roughly the same as the workers' wages, around 1100 to 1200 euros net per month. According to their own statements, this should narrow the gap between them and their patients. Doctors who work full-time earn around 1500 euros net per month, which covers car travel costs and telephone costs. There are also doctors who then voluntarily pay part of their wages to the Labor Party.
Since April 2002 the polyclinics have switched to a flat rate system. The patients no longer have to pay their own contribution, so a doctor's visit is completely free of charge. Since only three patients are treated per hour, there is more time for the individual patient.
Viewpoints
At the beginning of the project, Maoist ideology was the main driving force. The two basic ideas "revolutionary intellectuals have the task of serving the people wholeheartedly" and "we have to take care of the people's daily living conditions in order to win them over to the higher tasks of the revolution" were the motivation. All those working in the health care system were therefore called upon to use this approach to medicine to help build a socialist society.
After a while, they began looking for political solutions to the medical shortcomings they encountered. They also identified a wide class gap between doctors and their patients. According to this, many doctors see their patients primarily as consumers of drugs and treatments. In this regard, they accused the Orde van Geneesheren (professional organization of doctors) of wanting to give the profession of doctor a social added value, and they also believe that medicine (“healing dogs”) is more than just healing.
In her opinion, medicine should also deal with the circumstances that lead to illness, such as poor living conditions, pressure to perform in the factory, compulsion to consume and exploitation of the third world . GVHV wants to counterbalance this together with the PVDA. They are active in developing countries with their partner organization Geneeskunde voor de Derde Wereld (G3W - Medicine for Developing Countries) .
At the end of the 1990s, explicitly Maoist ideas were abandoned. The PVDA expressed its solidarity with the striking workers and a. at Cockerill Yards and left out the radical ideas a bit in order to be able to present itself more openly to the workers. Peter Mertens declared in 2008 that the PVDA today describes itself as Marxist and no longer as Maoist, Leninist or with other isms. Above all, she wants to bring combat movements into being (such as the kiwi movement, flu vaccination campaign, etc.) in order to implement her goals and to be able to put pressure on them.
Combat objectives
The organization has summarized its purpose as follows:
- Free high quality healthcare for everyone, coupled with a strong national (non-linguistic) social security system.
- Abolition of "performance medicine" with performance-related remuneration. Introduction of a fixed monthly salary for medical staff, including doctors, specialists and pharmacists.
- Establishment of a national health service with patient representation and transparent decision-making.
- Preservation of all public hospitals.
- General access to all hospitals.
- A drug policy that, on the basis of a public tender, selects the best product at the lowest price for each drug and leaves it to the patient free of charge.
- Priority is given to a very comprehensively understood prevention: good social security, a healthy environment, better occupational safety and good accommodation.
- Abolition of the medical association in favor of an ethics committee .
GvhV and the medical professional organization
Since it was founded, there have been conflicts between the GvhV and the Medical Association. The membership of GvhV founder Kris Merckx was suspended twice, once he was briefly detained . The chamber accuses him of unfair competition and a lack of collegiality. GvhV, on the other hand, claims that the medical association is guilty of unfair business, works undemocratically, is only aiming for profit at the expense of the patient and wants to give the profession of doctor added social value.
Actions
In addition to free medicine, the organization campaigns for peace, social problems and grievances in Belgium.
Kiwi model
Together with the Labor Party, the organization advocates Dirk van Duppen's kiwi model as an alternative to today's high drug prices. In this context, GvhV and members of the Christian Workers' Association (KWB) drove together with 300 chronic pain patients to the Dutch border town of Hulst in 2007 to buy cheap painkillers. In the Netherlands, painkillers cost only a tenth of what they cost in Belgium. The reason for this is that the pharmacies collectively buy their products for all branches and can thus use the competition between the pharmaceutical companies to negotiate lower prices. The Kiwi model is modeled on New Zealand. After that, the organization wants to ensure that pharmaceuticals are bought by pharmacies in public tenders. This method is intended to relieve patients with low incomes who regularly need expensive drugs.
Flu campaign
Another initiative is the “flu is not flu” campaign. It aims to increase the rate of flu vaccinations among retirees in order to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and deaths. Members of the Workers' Party advocate free vaccinations in their local councils, or at least that members of risk groups are called upon in writing to be vaccinated.
Festival ManiFiesta
Since 2010, the organization co-organized with the weekly Solidair the festival ManiFiesta , festival of solidarity, which is visited by 6000 (2010) to 8,000 guests (2012).
Web links
- www.gvhv.be - Official presentation of GvhV in Dutch
- www.mplp.be - Official presentation in French
- Ward Segers: "Alle Macht aan de Arbeiders", '1968' en de inzet voor de arbeiders 1966-1979, Leuven, Licentiaatsverhandeling KUL (2004)
- Gita Deneckere: Radicaal-links in Belgium en de val van de Muur. Ghent University
Individual evidence
- ↑ GVHV website ( Memento from September 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Kris Merckx en de loodvergiftiging. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on September 1, 2013 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) De Standaard, 10 September 2006
- ↑ Jan Cap: In naam van mijn klasse. Epo, see Chapter 5: Wij, Ali, op de Boelwerf, Actiegroepen en comités
- ↑ Kris Merckx: Bedenkingen bij een geslaagde hoorzitting. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on September 1, 2013 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) solidair.org, January 29, 2005