By Joseph Lord
Star Staff Writer
04-10-2006
Dr. Henry Duke was touched by what he saw in Mobile after Hurricane Katrina.
He saw people, lots of them, in need of medical help – many of them caught up in the stormfs destructive wake without medical insurance, or without enough of it.
Duke, a resident physician at Regional Medical Center, long had advocated for universal health care, but he was moved to greater action after he volunteered his expertise and time on the Gulf Coast.
That led to the groundwork being laid for a new advocacy group, which held its first organizational meeting on Sunday in Anniston.
Duke and a handful of local and state activists on Sunday convened the first meeting of Alabama Health Care for All, a membership group that advocates a national, single-payer, universal healthcare program – in essence, government-sponsored health insurance for everyone.
“When you stop and think about it, as rich as this nation is it is a disgrace that we have to have a forum to discuss health care,” said Debra Foster, a former Anniston City Council member.
Foster attended on behalf of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The goal for the statewide organization is to educate the public on the current health-care systemfs problems, and to pressure Congress, particularly representatives from Alabama, to enact universal healthcare, said Duke.
Duke said 45 million Americans donft have health insurance. That caused the premature deaths of 18,000 people last year, according to information provided by the organization.
“We want to start making a difference,” Duke told the group.
He wore a T-shirt that quoted Martin Luther King Jr. It read, “Of all the inequalities, injustices in healthcare are the most shameful and inhumane.”
He said the group will be funded through private contributions.
The Rev. Jack Zylman, co-chair of the group with Duke, said their goal can be reached through perseverance.
The group supported House Bill 676 in Congress, which would create a single-payer, universal healthcare program. It also is pushing for passage of legislation that would allow National Guardsmen to receive affordable health-care coverage when theyfre not on active duty.
The first meeting of Alabama Healthcare for All, at the public library on 10th Street, was attended by about a dozen people, whose roles ranged from doctors and nurses to religious leaders.
Theyfll meet again at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Seventeenth Street Baptist Church in Anniston.
Meetings also are planned for Opelika, Huntsville and other cities across Alabama.
