|Organisations of people with disabilities
met at the European Parliament.
The European Parliament is a place
where politicians decide about European laws.
In the meeting, people talked about
Many doctors and nurses know little about disabilities.
People with disabilities have the same right
In the meeting, people talked about how to make sure
On 15th of October, Inclusion Europe attended an event on equal access to healthcare at the European Parliament hosted by Diane Dodds, MEP. The event called “It’s our Year, give us a voice!” focused on active citizenship of people with disabilities through equal access to healthcare and was organised by the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in cooperation with European disability networks and the European Year of Citizens Alliance.
Give us a voice!
The event brought together associations of people with disabilities from Europe. The speakers presented powerful stories of discrimination of people with disabilities when accessing the healthcare system.
Terézia Drdulová, president of the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in Slovakia, expressed her concern over the quality of healthcare services accessed by persons with disabilities in the post-communist countries.
Inclusion Europe’s Director Geert Freyhoff pointed out that an alarming number of people with intellectual disabilities have died in the UK as a result of unequal access to health care. “More than a third of deaths could have been avoided, if the patients with disabilities had received a proper healthcare on time,” he stated. Inclusion Europe presented the results of the research carried out by its member organisation Mencap which exposed the cases of institutional discrimination in healthcare. You can find the full version of the ‘Death by Indifference’ report here.
Aurélie Baranger, Secretary General of Autism Europe, and Jackie Bland from SHINE UK both highlighted the need to improve communication of healthcare professionals with patients with disabilities. Communication issues and lack of accessible information were also pointed out as a major barrier by David Hay from European Union of the Deaf. Last speaker, Yves Brand from Mental Health Europe, underlined the need for well-developed community-based care services.
Participants brainstormed about recommendations for decision-makers and civil society on how to make healthcare systems more accessible. Raising the awareness of healthcare professionals, collecting information about the experiences of persons with disabilities and reviewing exisiting legislation and policy frameworks were among principal recommendations.
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