Legally blocked: the right to health

Are covid and long covid occupational diseases? The testimonies of health professionals who work long hours with inadequate protective equipment in poorly ventilated rooms are unequivocal (doi:10.1136/bmj.p1983).1 The data on covid in health workers are equally persuasive (doi:10.1136/bmj.m3582https://oem.bmj.com/content/78/5/307 doi:10.1136/bmj.m3944).234 The European Commission last year recommended that covid should be recognised as an occupational disease in certain sectors, such as health and social care (https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&furtherNews=yes&newsId=10463).5 Yet governments remain reluctant to accept the link.Rachel Ali, a general practitioner whose life was “upended” by long covid, believes that the issue is one of legal liability, “to avoid being held responsible for the occupational illnesses of so many people, healthcare workers as well as other patient facing workers.” It’s hard to think of another adequate explanation, given the facts.The UK’s Office for National Statistics estimates that about two million people are living with long covid, around 3% of the population. About 5% of the…
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