Health, a common good

The covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that access to health care and maintaining the best possible state of health is not only an individual issue but first and foremost a “common good”. However, does this imply that free care and “whatever it costs” should prevail over any other consideration in health matters, thus exempting individuals and society from any choice or prioritization? This raises the question of the level of health care that should be guaranteed to everyone, as well as the question of public-private sharing in the organization and financing of the health system. Vaccination against covid has shown that this debate also arises in the field of medical and pharmaceutical research: what partnership and what sharing of funding between the public and private sectors? How to reconcile the protection of intellectual property with access to global public goods such as treatments, medicines, and vaccines?