In the 1940s, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) started a movement to address people’s lack of access to healthcare, especially in rural areas. The first People’s Polyclinic (‘Praja Vaidyasala’) in Nellore was founded on the principle that anyone who needs treatment should be treated, regardless of their ability to pay. The Nellore People’s Polyclinic (PPC) trains doctors and volunteers to provide healthcare to peasants, agricultural workers, and the rural poor, who lack access to healthcare and cannot afford to travel to urban areas for care. The Nellore PPC inspired many more people in the communist movement to start their own polyclinics. Communist polyclinics in India now provide low-cost or free healthcare to thousands of people every day, saving lives that would otherwise be lost to the private healthcare system. The U.S. could use a movement like this. The private healthcare system in the U.S. has left thousands of uninsured, poor, houseless, Black, and Brown people without access to what could be lifesaving medical care. COVID-19 has only made these disparities worse and led to more preventable deaths. We must stand up and say, “Healthcare for the people, not for profit!”
Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite!