Your Majesty and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, dear leaders of the G20, ladies and gentlemen:
Facing the two crises in health and the economy has left us with suffering and calamities, but it has also left us important lessons. I will highlight some of them.
One. Health is a fundamental human right that the State must guarantee, putting aside profit motivations. Medical care, vaccines and medicines must be free and universally applicable, as established in the Mexican resolution approved in the UN, almost unanimously, with 179 countries in favor.
Two. Preventing is better than curing. Hence the importance of promoting a healthy diet, avoiding products with excessive salt, sugars, fats and chemicals. Let us bear in mind that those most affected by the pandemic have been patients with hypertension, diabetes and obesity, and these chronic diseases originate or are precipitated by a poor diet and the absence of physical exercise and sports.
Three. We have to consider the family as the main social security institution, avoid its disintegration and not abandon the elderly in shelters or nursing homes that, however comfortable they may be, will never supply the love offered by their loved ones.
Four. We have to trust more in the responsibility of the people; we have to guarantee their freedom, under all circumstances, and abandon the temptation to impose authoritarian measures such as excessive confinement or a curfew. Nothing by force, everything by persuasion and reason.
Five. The economic rescue must be done from the bottom up. We must first help the poor and avoid focusing government actions only on allocating public funds to bankrupt companies or financial institutions. We should not convert private debts into public debt, avoid indebtedness, especially if it is for the benefit of a few and at the expense of the suffering of many and of the new generations.
I will talk about this topic tomorrow, for now these are my comments.
Thank you.