Socialized medicine for all

Compulsory vaccination on collective farm in Turkmenistan. Photograph by Soviet Photo Agency. Found in Sir Arthur Newsholme's 1932 book, Red Medicine: Socialized Health in Soviet Russia.

 

Despite all advances made in modern medicine, and the fact that vaccination has consistently been shown to be one of the most cost-effective ways of avoiding infection, why do irrational fears of modern medicine still persist? And since when did it become acceptable for calls for “herd immunity” and homeopathy fads, which are based in mysticism, to be presented as substitutes for defending or advocating public healthcare? Vaccines, which have historically been shown to dramatically improve human health and quality of life by helping to eradicate many diseases, should be seen as a collective and social responsibility to protect one another and millions from illness. This was exemplified by the Soviet public health system where vaccinations were made compulsory in April 1919 because “the health of the individual is the concern of society as a whole.” Vaccines are just one symbol of social progress as they saw their full potential under the Soviet Union where prevention, and not merely relying on waiting for a cure, was a major part of the goal in creating living and working conditions where illness is not a rampant occurrence that threatened human lives. In addition to being economical, vaccines are a material manifestation of preventative healthcare unlike curative drugs; as Tim Anderson writes:

“…[W]hile there can be no doubt that Big Pharma seeks to exploit the [Coronavirus] crisis, vaccines represent a small fraction of their revenue stream and profits. Vaccine revenue of around 35 billion is likely less than 3.5% of the total pharmaceutical revenue of around US$1 trillion (Evaluate Pharma 2017), highlighting the fact that curative drugs are far more lucrative than immunity inducing vaccines. There are only two vaccines in Big Pharma’s top 50 revenue earning medications, the vaccines for pneumonia and HPV (Evaluate Pharma 2017: 36-37).”

People deserve to live long lives and to enjoy the fruits of socialized public healthcare while they are still alive, and also to not suffer when they are reaching the end of their lives. Deadly diseases and preventable, needless deaths should never be normalized.