New edition of “Salut, Drets, Acció” (Health, Rights, Action) in Cinemes Girona

Every Thursday from the 7th to the 28th of May in the Cinemes Girona the NGOs Farmamundi and Medicusmundi (Catalonia) will present the 9th edition of the film series entitled Salut, Drets, Acció (Health, Rights, Action), a cultural meeting point designed to defend the right to healthcare all over the world and to battle against inequalities in healthcare systems in general. Over the three week period a total of four documentaries will be shown, each of which will be accompanied by a debate relating to the subject matter portrayed in the respective film.

The series will open on the 7th of May with Cuanto ganamos, cuanto perdimos (So much gained, so much lost), which deals with immigrants whose illegal administrative status automatically excludes them from the public healthcare system as the result of a law passed in 2012 by the Spanish government. The film will be followed by a debate entitled Disobedience as a tool for healthcare protection featuring, among others, Josefina Días Petit, president of Médicos del Mundo in Catalonia.

The 14th will see the turn of the HBO documentary Tales from the Organ Trade which examines the world of organ trafficking using a series of interwoven stories taking place in Manila, Istanbul, Colorado and Kosovo. The following debate with Chloë Ballesté, Director of International Development and Cooperation at the Donation & Transplant Institute, will pose the question of whether or not organ trafficking is the result of global inequality.

Thursday the 21st will feature the Indian film Fire in the Blood, a documentary about the lack of access to low-cost AIDS medicines present in many countries. Filmed across four continents, the film offers a chance for people from all corners of the world that have chosen to take direct action to make their voices heard. Following the film, Dr. Felipe García of the Clínic Hospital, and Xose María Torres, a pharmacologist and spokesman for Farmamundi, will offer a debate entitled How can we protect universal access to treatment from pharmaceutical patents?

Finally, the series will finish on the 28th with the film Kafana, a production that focusses on the Sahrawi people and how they managed to establish a public healthcare system in the middle of the Sahara. The subsequent debate, entitled 40 years of Sahrawi exile. Is it possible to establish a healthcare system in the middle of the desert? will feature, among others, the directors of the documentary, Silvia Venegas and Juan Antonio Moreno, as well as pharmacologist Maria Elena del Cacho.

Salut, Drets, Acció

When: from the 7th up to the 28th of May

Tickets: free entrance with advance booking

Where: Cinemes Girona

More information here