Times of India, 30 July 2014
NEW DELHI: If you are disabled and believe that at least the hospitals will be sensitive to your needs, you are in for some disappointment. For, more than a year after Medical Council of India issued its circular seeking compliance reports stating the degree to which the institutions are accessible to disabled, only 52 medical colleges responded.
In fact, RTI replies this year revealed that even Medical Council of India has not issued directions to medical institutions to appoint sign language interpreters or make their websites accessible to visually impaired persons.
MCI asked medical colleges to submit the compliance report on March 29, 2013. And, in April 2014, Delhi high court observed that "health is not a luxury" and that it "should not be the sole possession of a privileged few".
"MCI should take this seriously and include disabled persons in all policy decisions," said Satendra Singh, professor of physiology at University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi University, who had made a representation to the chief commissioner of PWD on the same issue last year.
The letter from Medical Council of India (MCI) to medical colleges last year was reportedly a result of this representation. Singh had also asked for access audits to be made a mandatory part of MCI's inspection before accreditation.
Those who responded to MCI's circular include All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi apart from Gold Field Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Faridabad, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, Assam, Peoples College of Medical Science and Research Centre, Bhopal, and GMERS Medical College, Ahmedabad.
But MCI, too, has not maintained data like number of medical institutions having a physical medicine and rehabilitation department in India and details of enabling units for persons with disabilities in medical colleges.
Dubbing many of these efforts an "eyewash", Singh said that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi had constituted a committee following the directive but still major parts like the library are inaccessible as the committee did not include disabled persons.
An access audit to make medical colleges barrier-free was conducted by an NGO in the capital, but the report has not yet been implemented, he informed.
Singh also said that a majority of the hospitals lack accessible toilets, there is no provision for separate queues or reserved parking for patients with disabilities and even Medical Council of India inspections do not include access audits.
"It's the social accountability of medical institutions to protect the right to health of disabled persons. Being in hospital is a worrying time for any patient, but imagine what it is like if you are unable to communicate with the doctor in an emergency room," Singh said.
He added, "Are deaf patients not entitled to live a healthy life? Why are blind patients unable to find a doctor of their choice or find out their OPD timings from hospital websites? It's simply because they haven't been made readable to them".
Also read:
Most medical colleges ignore directive on facilities for disabled
AIIMS plans access to disabled, others silent
MCI asks all medical institutions to be 'accessible'
Showing posts with label Sign language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sign language. Show all posts
Friday, August 8, 2014
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Raw Deal for Physically Challanged Voters
The Supreme Court order of 2007 to Chief Election Commissioner was the result of a letter written to the Chief Justice of India by Mr Javed Abidi, convener of the Disabled Rights Group (DRG) before the 2004 election, demanding that necessary steps be taken to make the polling process accessible to the disabled. The letter was converted into public interest litigation (PIL). Apart from ramps in polling booths and Braille-enabled EVMs, the Supreme Court judgment also says that poll personnel must be sensitised to the special needs of the disabled (hearing impaired) and be courteous to them.
This was publicized as the most high-tech polls ever but for disabled voters, it was like ostracizing in their own country. Live webcast notwithstanding, architectural, attitudinal and technological barriers confronted voters with disabilities while exercising their right to vote: no Braille signs or ramps, an absence of Sign Language interpreters, no automatic door openers, narrow doorways and inaccessible voting machines.
On what basis does the capital of world’s largest democracy legally deprive an estimated 80,000 voters with disability of this fundamental civic right? I complained it to the election commission as well as Chief and State Commissioner’s of Persons with Disability.
Today’s Statesman has also covered the story on page 2. Sharing it here:
RAW DEAL FOR PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED VOTERS
By Chandan Prakash Singh (singh.chandan@thestatesman.net)
New Delhi, 4 December 2013, The Staesman (Delhi Edition, page 2)
The lack of ramps and Braille signs at several polling booths, led physically challenged voters, including first timers,having a tough time in exercising their franchise for the Delhi Assembly election today.
According to Dr Satendra Singh, professor at the University College of medical Sciences (UCMS) and GTB Hospital, despite clear guidelines from the Supreme Court, disabled voters were not informed about accessible polling booths either on radio or newspapers.
“The polling booth at a training centre outside GTB Hospital, Dilshad Garden, had no ramp or Braille signage facility as several of my students, including the first timers, faced lots of trouble while casting their votes. This was just one example of such mismanagement noticed while polling as there were numerous booths.” said Dr Singh.
Ms Abha Khetarpal, wheelchair user and the president of 'Cross the Hurdles' organization, said:
"Polling booth number A 28 at Subhash Nagar, where I was supposed to cast my vote, had no ramps for wheelchairs and no Braille stickers.” She said polling booths number 11, 12, 13, 14 in Rajokri had no ramps and Braille stickers. Besides, polling booth number 13 in Rajokri had seven stairs which was inaccessible for physically disabled people.
"Polling booth number A 28 at Subhash Nagar, where I was supposed to cast my vote, had no ramps for wheelchairs and no Braille stickers.” She said polling booths number 11, 12, 13, 14 in Rajokri had no ramps and Braille stickers. Besides, polling booth number 13 in Rajokri had seven stairs which was inaccessible for physically disabled people.
“How can it be called government for the people, by the people and for the people. If we report this to media they ask for proof of this with pictures which is not allowed. Said Ms Khetarpal.
Shivani Gupta, another wheelchair user and President of 'AccessAbility' organization, could not cast her vote due to inaccessibility of her polling booth.
Similar situations were noticed at Mundka (Nitholi) in North West Delhi which was completely inaccessible. Some disabled voters were also seen taking pictures of booth where wheelchair users could not enter.
“I am marking the complaint to Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities and State Commissioner of Person with Disabilities, Delhi, to take strict and appropriate action as disabled voters were deprived of their voting rights. I also declare, I am a person with disability myself. I am copying the mail to disabled voters mentioned above.”said Dr Satendra Singh.
On International Day of the Persons with Disabilities and just a day before the Delhi Elections, same issues were raised by me in the Hindi daily ‘Hindustan’ where election officer made false promises.Today’s ‘The Hindu’ has also raised the issue along with ‘The Times of India’. It’s now upon Election Commission to respond and rectify these grave mistakes in future. What is more ironical is the plight of persons with psychosocial impairment who are just not considered eligible for voting.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Belgian identical twins in unique mercy killing
Reposting Bruno Waterfield’s post “Euthanasia twins had ‘nothing to live for” published in The Telegraph on 14th Jan 2013.
The two deaf twins killed by legal euthanasia in Belgium were frightened of losing their independence in an institution and had "nothing to live for".
The two men, both aged 45, named as Marc and Eddy Verbessem, from the village of Putte, near the city of Mechelen, were both born deaf and asked for a mercy killing after finding that they would also soon go blind.
Dirk Verbessem, 46, explained that his younger brothers had lived together for all their adult lives and could not communicate with the outside world.
"Their great fear was that they would no longer be able to see each other. That was for my brothers unbearable," he said.
The deaf twin brothers had spent their entire lives together, sharing a flat while both working as cobblers and could only communicate with special sign language understood by each other and their immediate family.
"They lived together, did their own cooking and cleaning. You could eat off the floor. Blindness would have made them completely dependent. They did not want to be in an institution," said Mr Verbessem.
"I sometimes think, if they had their own wives and children, perhaps they would have had something to live for."
The brother and his parents, Mary and Remy, tried to stop the twins but were eventually persuaded by them that their lives should be ended under Belgium's euthanasia laws.
After enlisting the support of their local doctor, it took the twins almost two years to find a medical institution to administer a lethal injection after being turned down by their local hospital.
Four weeks ago, dressed in new shoes and suits, Marc and Eddy bid farewell to their parents and brother at Brussels University Hospital in Jette.
"I tried to talk them out of it even at the last moment," said their brother. "Together with my parents, I said goodbye. Marc and Eddy waved again at us. 'Up in the sky,' they said. 'Up in the sky,' we replied. And then it was over."
David Dufour, their local doctor, told The Daily Telegraph that as well as congenital deafness and approaching blindness caused by a genetically caused form of glaucoma, the twins had other severe medical problems.
"All that together made life unbearable. I have been very surprised but there is so much interest and debate about this," he said.
Dr Dufour said that the Verbessem family had overcome their opposition to the idea of euthanasia to help the twins make their case to doctors. "I have boundless respect for their parents and brother," he said. "Their family gave them the best, but hardest gift."
Under Belgian law euthanasia is allowed if a patient is able to make their wishes clear and a doctor judges that they are suffering unbearable pain.
The Verbessem case is unusual because neither of the men was terminally ill nor suffering physical pain.
Professor Wim Distelmans, the doctor that took the decision to euthanise the twins, defended his decision.
"It's the first time in the world that a 'double euthanasia' has been performed on brothers," he said. "There was certainly unbearable psychological suffering for them. Though there is of course it always possible to stretch the interpretation of that. One doctor will evaluate differently than the other."
Last month, Belgium's government announced plans to amend the law to allow the euthanasia of children and Alzheimer's sufferers. If passed, the new law will allow euthanasia to be "extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate".
Chris Gastmans, professor of medical ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven, expressed fear over the wider implications for the welfare of disabled people after the assisted suicide.
"In a society as wealthy as ours, we must find another, caring way to deal with human frailty," he said.
The two deaf twins killed by legal euthanasia in Belgium were frightened of losing their independence in an institution and had "nothing to live for".
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| Photo: Gazet Van Antwerpen |
Dirk Verbessem, 46, explained that his younger brothers had lived together for all their adult lives and could not communicate with the outside world.
"Their great fear was that they would no longer be able to see each other. That was for my brothers unbearable," he said.
The deaf twin brothers had spent their entire lives together, sharing a flat while both working as cobblers and could only communicate with special sign language understood by each other and their immediate family.
"They lived together, did their own cooking and cleaning. You could eat off the floor. Blindness would have made them completely dependent. They did not want to be in an institution," said Mr Verbessem.
"I sometimes think, if they had their own wives and children, perhaps they would have had something to live for."
The brother and his parents, Mary and Remy, tried to stop the twins but were eventually persuaded by them that their lives should be ended under Belgium's euthanasia laws.
After enlisting the support of their local doctor, it took the twins almost two years to find a medical institution to administer a lethal injection after being turned down by their local hospital.
Four weeks ago, dressed in new shoes and suits, Marc and Eddy bid farewell to their parents and brother at Brussels University Hospital in Jette.
"I tried to talk them out of it even at the last moment," said their brother. "Together with my parents, I said goodbye. Marc and Eddy waved again at us. 'Up in the sky,' they said. 'Up in the sky,' we replied. And then it was over."
David Dufour, their local doctor, told The Daily Telegraph that as well as congenital deafness and approaching blindness caused by a genetically caused form of glaucoma, the twins had other severe medical problems.
"All that together made life unbearable. I have been very surprised but there is so much interest and debate about this," he said.
Dr Dufour said that the Verbessem family had overcome their opposition to the idea of euthanasia to help the twins make their case to doctors. "I have boundless respect for their parents and brother," he said. "Their family gave them the best, but hardest gift."
Under Belgian law euthanasia is allowed if a patient is able to make their wishes clear and a doctor judges that they are suffering unbearable pain.
The Verbessem case is unusual because neither of the men was terminally ill nor suffering physical pain.
Professor Wim Distelmans, the doctor that took the decision to euthanise the twins, defended his decision.
"It's the first time in the world that a 'double euthanasia' has been performed on brothers," he said. "There was certainly unbearable psychological suffering for them. Though there is of course it always possible to stretch the interpretation of that. One doctor will evaluate differently than the other."
Last month, Belgium's government announced plans to amend the law to allow the euthanasia of children and Alzheimer's sufferers. If passed, the new law will allow euthanasia to be "extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate".
Chris Gastmans, professor of medical ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven, expressed fear over the wider implications for the welfare of disabled people after the assisted suicide.
"In a society as wealthy as ours, we must find another, caring way to deal with human frailty," he said.
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