No Minor Detail - a Tribute to Alice Abes

Last Friday, my sister-in-law, Alice Abes, pictured above, died in a hospital in Manila, capital of the Philippines.63 years of age, she succumbed to leukaemia, which seems to have gone untreated for some months or years. At a time when many thousands of Filipinos have died, been injured, gone missing or made homeless by Typhoon Haiyan, Alice's death may be regarded by some as a minor detail.
Except it is not a minor detail. No-one's passing is a minor detail. As John Donne observed, when the funeral bell tolls, it tolls for all of us. Alice lived a life no different from that of many Filipinas. Born into a large family, she married, worked hard, battled poverty and raised a family. She leaves behind four children and twelve grandchildren, besides her eight siblings, one of whom is my wife. For them, losing Alice is no minor affair, nor any trifling detail.
Unfortunately, I never really got to know Alice. We met only a couple of times, and never really had a conversation (many Filipinos think I am either German or Australian, and find that very suspicious, for some reason). Nevertheless, I salute Alice's memory, and believe that her last days are of significance to us here in Britain.
Alice's final stay in hospital was made doubly traumatic for her family by the brutally simple fact that healthcare in the Philippines is not free - you pay for it. As many Filipinos are desperately poor, they often cannot afford medical treatment, and as my wife says: "In Philippines, if you don't pay, you die". Without support from her family, Alice would have faced a grim end; without support from the wider family, her children could not have afforded to pay for her treatment.
Why should this concern us, here in Britain? Well, it does not take much research to find that there are some right-wing British politicians who would dearly love to dismember the National Health Service (in which, ironically, many Filipinos work) and privatise as much of it as possible. This is not always overtly stated, but it is not difficult to read between the lines.
Fortunately, many British people recognise the warning signs, and are campaigning (not a moment too soon!) to "Save the NHS". If you, dear reader, support this campaign, when you are signing petitions, writing to your M.P. or joining in street protests, then please - remember my sister-in-law, Alice Abes. In a way, her passing encapsulates all we fight for, and all we are campaigning against.
There could be no better tribute to her memory.