Stop TTIP

What is TTIP?

TTIP stands for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This is being negotiated between the EU and the USA, and will involve Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The aim of FTAs is to encourage the trading of goods by removing restrictions, making it easier for private companies to trade. The supposed benefits of FTAs are increased jobs and economic growth. However, the FTAs also pose some threats.

But isn’t the NHS a public service, and therefore, is not included in TTIP?

The NHS was a public service until the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. This reorganisation of the NHS allowed for private providers to take over NHS services. This fragmentation turned the NHS into a market, causing competition between private companies for NHS funding for patient services. Turning the NHS into a commercial activity means it can now be included in FTAs.

What does this mean for NHS?

The Health and Social Care Act has already been criticised of causing increased costs, reduced quality of care, and increased health inequalities. This is likely to only get worse with TTIP. TTIP will give transnationals the right to bid for all government spending on health, but there will be restrictions on the ability of the UK government to control costs and regulate transnational companies that provide healthcare services. Furthermore, it will give transnational companies the right to claim compensation if the government introduces initiatives that may reduce their profits. TTIP also makes it impossible for the UK government to reverse the privatisation of the NHS that resulted from the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.

How will this affect me?

TTIP will ultimately lower our standards of health. As transnationals can sue if new health measures affect their future profit, this means that safer or more effective treatments could not be put into practice. Furthermore, food standards and health regulations could be changed to match those of the USA, who uses a “safe until proved otherwise” principle, opposed to the EU’s precautionary principle that means tests must prove substances are not harmful. Therefore, we could see the return of banned food products like chlorine bleached chicken and growth hormones in beef. Additionally, the UK could be forced to reverse its ban on asbestos (used for insulation), which has been linked to lung cancer.

What can we do?

David Cameron needs to make the NHS exempt from TTIP.  However, the problem with TTIP, is that it is all being done in secret and many people do not know it is going on. Therefore, public awareness is vital. Please show your support by signing this petition (http://action.sumofus.org/a/stop-ttip/?sub=taf%3C/blockquote%3E) and sharing the link to it.