Group of student activists block Ministry of Health to show that the “climate crisis is a public health crisis”

A group of student activists from the End to the Fossil movement blocked the entrance to the Ministry of Health in Lisbon this Thursday. “End to Genocide, End to Fossil” is the motto for the protest. According to information shared on the social network Telegram, the PSP is already on site.

“As a medical student, I know that the main duty of healthcare professionals is to care about people’s health and well-being. That’s why I’m here. Because climate crisis is a public health crisis and, if we don’t stop it, millions of people will die and get sick”, says Joana Fraga, one of the students present. In the videos shared on the social network Telegram, the young people shout, while sitting on the steps, “Without health there is no peace/With genocide there is no peace.”

According to the Lusa agency, some elements of the authorities were “taking the necessary steps” so that employees were not prevented from entering the building from the Ministry of Health. Through the social network Instagramthe Lisbon Student Climate Strike (organizer of the Fim ao Fóssil student movement) reveals that “future doctors” were detained “for protecting life”.

In the video, you can see a student being carried by two PSP agents. In this video, the students write: “those who supposedly represent us call the police to silence us from telling the truth”. In total, four students were detained.

The End to the Fossil student movement recalls that this “wave of actions also demand an end to the genocide in the Gaza strip”. “This Ministry should be ensuring that the Portuguese government acts against the massacre that has already destroyed all the hospitals in Gaza and murdered hundreds of health professionals,” says Joana.

According to the medical student, “marginalized people are the ones who will be most vulnerable to climate chaos”, highlighting that “trans people are already victims of discrimination by a healthcare system that is constantly failing them”. Joana Fraga says that “the climate justice movement is and has always been a social justice movement.”

updated at 11:33 am