Welcome to In Conversation, the regular podcast of InCompass. Go to InCompass-Hevon

for free access to all our podcasts to date. My name is Paul Adamson and this is the second

in a series I am conducting with nobody left outside,

NLO for short. The NLO is a collective of organizations representing people in some of the most

marginalized communities in Europe, including homeless people, LGTBI people, people who use drugs,

prisoners, sex workers and undocumented migrants. People in these groups are known to be at greater risk of poor health

while facing many barriers in accessing healthcare.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought into sharp focus

the stark inequality that exist in access to health and social services

for marginalized people who often exist outside formal health care

and social support systems.

While COVID-19 has affected, of course, the entire population,

marginalized communities have faced particular challenges requiring specific policy responses.

At the same time, the pandemic has created a critical momentum,

supporting a greater role for the EU in public health and health system preparedness,

pushing these ideas and issues to the top of the political agenda. With this podcast series,

we would like to build on this momentum, casting a spotlight on the situation of marginalized people in Europe during the NLO week

to create time and space for representatives of these

communities to share their first-hand experience, challenges and potential solutions.

The NLO initiative as a whole, NLO Week 2020, and this podcast series have been initiated

and are supported financially by MSD, but the views expressed in this podcast are those of the invited guests

and not necessarily those of MSD.

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