Pedro Sánchez: 'No society deserves to call itself civilised if it abandons its own when they fall'

• President >
• News

Pedro Sánchez: "No society deserves to call itself civilised if it abandons its own when they fall"

President's News - 2026.5.18

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, greets the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

In his speech, the president appealed to solidarity as the foundation of civilised society and stressed that the Spanish State's priority is to care for the health of its fellow citizens, "without exceptions or conditions", as opposed to those who invoke "national priorities" in order to exclude. "No society deserves to call itself civilised if it abandons its own when they fall," he said.

He highlighted Spain's commitment 40 years ago to public, universal and free healthcare, to make health a right, a decision that "transformed the country", he emphasised. As Pedro Sánchez highlighted, in barely a generation infant mortality has plummeted and Spain leads the EU in life expectancy along with Italy and Sweden.

The President of the Government of Spain noted that, in recent years, healthcare spending in Spain has increased by 4%; in 2024, public healthcare expenditure exceeded 100 billion euros, equivalent to 6.4% of GDP. The president also highlighted the recovery of universal access to health care and the extension of the portfolio of public services, in line with the recommendations of the WHO.

During his speech, Pedro Sánchez warned of pressure from those who want to turn health into a business, "breaking the most basic social contract of any democratic system", and of the decline in international funding for global health. In the last two years alone, it has fallen by around 30%, and the consequences are already noticeable.

In this regard, he lamented that for the first time the reduction in child mortality has stalled and one in four people in the world are forced to choose between receiving treatment or eating. "I don't want to live in a world where 12 people hold more wealth than half the world's population, while a mother doesn't know if she will be able to feed her children", he stated. Furthermore, it is estimated that 14 million people could die before 2030 from preventable causes, including 4.5 million children under the age of five. "The greatest risk to global health is no longer a lack of science, but a lack of awareness," he warned.

To address this situation, he advocated for a global response to the pandemic of "selfishness" and appealed to the lessons learned during covid-19, recalling that no country can save itself alone: "Protecting others is the best way to protect ourselves".

In his address - the first by a President of the Government of Spain to the World Health Assembly - Pedro Sánchez called for strengthening international response capacities to future health crises, advancing the Pandemic Treaty agreed upon for 2025, and reforming the international financial architecture to guarantee stronger and more equitable health systems.

He also warned that 3.4 billion people live in countries that allocate more resources to debt repayment than to health or education, a situation which, he pointed out, is evidence of the profound inequalities of the international system. Pedro Sánchez argued that investing in global health is investing in the security of countries and their citizens, but also in social justice.

At a time when some countries are cutting their contributions, President Sánchez highlighted the commitment of Spain, which has doubled Official Development Assistance and has committed 315 million euros to the global health system for the period 2025-2027, through contributions to GAVI, the Global Fund and the World Health Organisation itself.

In relation to the recent outbreak of hantavirus on the ship MV Hondius, whose evacuation was coordinated by Spain following a request for help from the WHO, President Sánchez stressed the importance of complying with international law and of taking a step forward because "when one country acts responsibly, others respond in the same way. It's a kind of contagion of solidarity.

Non official translation

More news

Tags:

• Health