Much of Gandhi’s work, and specifically his 1930 march to the sea to protest the British Salt Act, offers tactical, philosophical and psychological lessons for achieving universal health care coverage. By choosing an exceedingly practical and decidedly symbolic focus for a campaign for truth through militant nonviolence Gandhi achieved profound change. Both oppressor and oppressed were moved toward new or reawakened individual and cultural identities. Salt and health care are necessary commodities, both most often, more necessary for the less privileged. Removing impediments to the distribution of what is universally recognized as essential for life itself is an easily understood concept. Following Gandhi, campaigns for universal health care may find greater initial successes through non-legislative and extra-legal tactics. Non-violent acts of civil disobedience practiced by informed communities of citizens and health care workers may rapidly and dramatically draw attention to current contradictions in health care access and delivery. Boycotts of specific medical goods, services, providers, or insurers- work stoppages by sympathetic physicians, nurses, interns, and other health industry workers- mass protests that temporarily overload facilities with people in need of care- coordinated massive grievance appeals for denied services, along with other highly visible acts of personal courage are potentially most effective. The economic, political, cultural, and spiritual disaster caused by British colonialism in India compels parallels to the impact of the mal-distribution of life’s necessities in contemporary America. Even in the absence of a Gandhi like figure, a populist movement embodying Gandhi’s principles and tactics can hasten fundamental change.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to understand the relevance and potential usefulness of adopting Gandhi’s philosophy and tactics of militant non-violent civil disobedience in the contemporary struggle for universal health care.
Keywords: Universal Health Care,
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