The Communist and Workers’ Parties are positioned with responsibility before our peoples. We are here! We are present at the forefront of the struggle to immediately take all necessary measures to protect the health and safeguard the rights of the working class and the popular strata everywhere!
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the doctors, nurses, the hospital and health units personnel that are fighting this battle facing great difficulties.
We express our solidarity with those affected by the CoVID-19 pandemic and wish them speedy recovery from the disease.
We salute the countries that develep solidarity actions with the most affected countries, such as the sending of protective materials and health professionals from countries such as China, Cuba and Russia, actions that are in stark contast to the absence of the European Union.
The CoVID-19 pandemic tragically proves the huge shortages of health systems in all capitalist countries that were known before the outbreak of the coronavirus. These shortages did not occur accidentally, they are the result of the anti-people’s policy pursued by governments in the service of the big capital to commercialize and privatize health, to support the profitability of monopoly groups. This policy undermines the great scientific and technological capabilities available today to meet all prevention and healthcare needs of the people.
Today’s experience reveals the anti-social and parasitic nature of capitalism and highlights the superiority and timeliness of socialism and central scientific planning based on popular needs, which can secure primary healthcare and prevention, hospitals, medical and nursing staff, medicine, laboratories, medical exams and everything else needed to meet the constant as well as any emergency health needs of the people.
The pre-existing slowdown in world economy is now being furtherly reinforced by the spread of the coronavirus and increasing the risk of a new crisis in the coming period. In spite of the propaganda about “unity”, governments in the service of the big capital focus their financial measures on the support of monopoly groups and will once again seek to throw the burden of the crisis on the workers and the other popular strata. The workers and the peoples cannot and must not pay again!
“Individual responsibility” cannot be used as a pretext to cover state and government responsibility. Today, taking the necessary measures also requires the struggle of the peoples against the policy of supporting the monopoly groups, which sacrifices the satisfaction of the needs and the health of the peoples at the altar of capitalist profitability.
The Communist and Workers’ parties demand that all necessary measures be taken immediately to address the epidemic, including the following:
- Immediate strengthening of public health systems by state funding, recruitment of full-time medical and nursing staff with full labor rights. Meeting all the needs of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and the infrastructure needed for the full functioning of public healthcare and research services.
- Immediate provision of all necessary means of protection (masks, gloves, antiseptics, etc.) by the state to the people free of charge and fight against profiteering. Provision of all protection measures to all healthcare personnel giving this battle at the hospitals with sacrifices and at their own cost.
- Protection of the income and rights of the working-popular strata. To put a brake on the unaccountability of the capital that under the guise of the CoVID-19 epidemic proceeds to massive redundancies and tries to furtherly trample over wage rights, working time, leave from work, and other labor rights. Immediate action to protect workers in the workplace.
- No to any curtailment of the democratic rights of the peoples under the pretext of the coronavirus.
- End all sanctions and measures of economic exclusion, which in this situation are even more unjust and criminal and make the life of the peoples in the countries they turn against to even more dificult. To take all necessary measures to protect the health and life of the peoples.
- We say no to imperialist interventions and military exercises, such as those of NATO, and demand that public resources be redirected to support the needs of the peoples, such as the financing of public health and social security systems.
Parties signing:
- Communist Party of Albania
- Communist Party of Argentina
- Communist Party of Australia
- Party of Labour of Austria
- Communist Party of Azerbaidjan
- Communist Party of Bangladesh
- Brazilian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Britain
- New Communist Party of Britain
- Party of the Bulgarian Communists
- Communist Party of Canada
- Communist Party of Chile
- Socialist Workers Party of Croatia
- AKEL, Cyprus
- Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia
- Communist Party in Denmark
- Egyptian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Finland
- Unified Communist Party of Georgia
- German Communist Party
- Communist Party of Greece
- Hungarian Workers Party
- Communist Party of India
- Tudeh Party of Iran
- Workers Party of Ireland
- Communist Party of Ireland
- Communist Party (Italy)
- Jordanian Communist Party
- Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan
- Workers Party of Korea
- Lebanese Communist Party
- Socialist Party (Lithuania)
- Communist Party of Malta
- Communist Party of Mexico
- Communist Party of Norway
- New Communist Party of the Netherlands
- Communist Party of Pakistan
- Palestinian People’s Party
- Palestinian Communist Party
- Paraguayan Communist Party
- Communist Party of Poland
- Portuguese Communist Party
- Philippines Communist Party [PKP 1930]
- Romanian Socialist Party
- Communist Party of the Russian Federation
- Russian Communist Workers Party
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
- Communists of Serbia
- Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
- Communists of Catalonia
- Communist Party of Swaziland
- Communist Party of Sweden
- Syrian Communist Party
- Communist Party of Turkey
- Communist Party of Ukraine
- Union of Communists of Ukraine
- Communist Party of Venezuela
The statement is open for further endorsments