via the Vatican:

Health professionals, over the past three years, have had a very special experience, one that is difficult to imagine, that of the pandemic. It has been said before, but it must not be forgotten: without your commitment and labours, many sick people would not have been cured. Your sense of duty inspired by the power of love has enabled you to serve your neighbour, even putting your own health at risk. And with you, I thank all the other healthcare workers….

With your service, you contribute to “lifting up and rehabilitating” your patients, remembering that first and foremost they are people. Indeed, the person should always be at the centre, with all his or her components, including the spiritual; a unified totality, in which the biological and spiritual, cultural and relational, planning and environmental dimensions of the human being are harmonized in the course of life….

It is up to each country to seek “strategies and resources in order to guarantee each person’s fundamental right to basic and decent healthcare” (Message for the 31st World Day of the Sick). Health is not a luxury! A world that discards the sick, that does not assist those who cannot afford care, is a cynical world without a future. Let us always remember this: health is not a luxury, it is for all.