Among the causes of this “dramatic situation” he listed “the commodification of medical services — that we speak, for example, of users and clients and not of patients — the fact that they are services that are traded in the market as a commodity according to the law of supply and demand, added to the scant awareness that a social mortgage encumbers the sciences.”
“In the end, the state does what it can and, by the way, with the best intentions, but it has collapsed,” he acknowledged. However, he praised the work of the health care system in Chile in dealing with the pandemic itself.
The archbishop noted that “with the resources it has available, the state is incapable of responding to the pressing demands of the vast majority of the inhabitants of Chile who don’t have access to private health care systems.”
“There is a great injustice that cannot continue to drag on,” the prelate stressed.
Along these lines, the archbishop stated that “being cared for is a fundamental human right” that cannot be contingent on economic, social, or political factors.
Chomali therefore called for “energetically marshaling all levels of society and embarking on the path towards equity in the right to be cared for,” placing “the dignity of the human person, justice, and the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity, and above all fraternity” at the center of the debate.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Julieta Villar has a degree in social communication from the National University of La Matanza (Argentina). She began her professional career as an editor at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA). She has collaborated in graphic press media and communication tasks in civil society organizations. Since October 2022, she has been part of the ACI Prensa team as a correspondent for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay.