[Yesterday's utopias, tomorrow's realities.]

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has clearly drawn attention to the shortcomings and flaws of the healthcare systems not just of low- and middle-income countries but also of high-income countries proudly proclaiming themselves "welfare societies". Trying to explain these failures by finding some scapegoat won't get us very far, but, unfortunately, the hunting's already begun. In contrast, all policymakers need to understand that in today's globalized world neither a country gets off without a universal health system nor such a system works properly if not included in a global health security framework, including all the environmental, social, economic, cultural components that contribute to making it possible. This is, above all, what the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has revealed. Today these old utopias can and must get real, also taking into account the climate change.