The Republic Centre for Support of Persons with Intellectual Disability – PORAKA, as a national organization for persons with intellectual disability and their families in our country, sends a request for providing better health care for persons with intellectual disability.
Considering the death of the 19 years old girl with Down Syndrome in Bitola (07.04.2021), the Republic Centre – PORAKA asked the Ministry of Health and the competent health institutions to take additional urgent measures which will secure adequate health care in conditions of a coronavirus pandemic:
1. It is priority to provide an accompany person while hospitalizing person with intellectual disability, without age limitations, in order to successfully achieve the necessary health care. This is especially important due to the limited possibilities and difficulties in the communication for persons with intellectual disability.
2. Having in mind the diminished general health condition and weak immunity of most persons with intellectual disability, and regarding the consequences that the corona virus is causing, it is necessary for these persons to have priority in health care (examinations, treatments, interventions, medications, and hospitalization) during a pandemic.
3. In this period, when the immunization against COVID-19 is current, it is necessary to include persons with intellectual disability and a priority group in the mass vaccination of the population, which must be preceded by detail analysis of the health status of persons with intellectual disability, and thus choice of vaccine type.
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, that The Republic of North Macedonia ratified in 2011, the state is obligated to provide the highest available health care standard without discriminations according to disability, to take all adequate measures for providing access for persons with disability to health care services and to ensure the same range, quality and standard of free and available health care and programmes for persons with disability, as for the other persons.
The request was officially sent to the Ministry of health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ombudsman, the National Coordinative Body for implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and all other relevant institutions, as well as to international organizations that work in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Unfortunately, an official response to the request has not been received yet, due to which the Republic Centre – PORAKA continues to ask the Ministry of health and the competent institutions to take additional urgent measures to ensure adequate health care in conditions of a corona virus pandemic.
