The Spanish Confederation of Persons with Physical and Organic Disabilities (COCEMFE) has launched the #SumandoCuidados campaign, on the occasion of May 3, the National Day of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the aim of raising awareness of the gaps and challenges in access to health and treatments for people with physical and organic disabilities in Spain.
As part of this campaign, the organization has presented the studies ‘Shadow Report within the framework of the periodic review of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: The gap in health rights for people with physical and organic disabilities’ and ‘Study on the conditioning factors of access to appropriate treatments and therapies for people with physical and organic disabilities in Spain’, highlighting the deficiencies of the healthcare system from a rights perspective.
According to both reports, people with physical and organic disabilities face structural and systematic barriers that violate their right to health, as recognized by the United Nations Convention. It denounces that there are persistent difficulties in access due to lack of physical and digital accessibility, territorial inequalities, high copayments, deficiencies in mental health care, lack of continuity of care, and an «excessively biomedical vision that does not address the overall well-being of these individuals».
COCEMFE states that 89.4% of people with physical and organic disabilities do not have access to rehabilitation through the public health system, 84.7% do not receive rehabilitation through any means, and 88.5% do not have access to psychotherapeutic support, while over 10% have felt discriminated against in healthcare services. Additionally, high copayments and lack of funding for essential medications result in additional costs that limit access to treatments, especially for rare or chronic diseases.
In addition to these barriers, COCEMFE points out the lack of training for healthcare personnel in inclusive treatment and resources to provide adequate care, exclusion from public health programs, and the absence of state regulations guaranteeing rehabilitation as a universal right. The impact of social determinants, such as economic precariousness or social exclusion, directly affects the physical, mental, and emotional health of people with disabilities.
«Sistema Sanitario Injusto»
«We cannot speak of a fair healthcare system if people with disabilities continue to face so many barriers to access necessary treatments,» says COCEMFE President Anxo Queiruga, who believes it is «urgent to transform the healthcare system to comply with the principles of accessibility, equity, quality, and universality outlined in the Convention.»
Among the main proposals put forward by COCEMFE are the removal of architectural and digital barriers in healthcare centers, ensuring territorial equity in access to treatments, rehabilitation, and support devices, strengthening mental health care, ensuring the affordability of medications, and providing healthcare personnel with all the tools they need to offer inclusive treatment.
The #SumandoCuidados campaign, developed by COCEMFE, is financed through grants for the realization of general interest activities considered of social interest under the 0.7% call from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption, and Agenda 2030, and the earmarked grant in favor of COCEMFE for the effective implementation of rights, improvement of quality of life, and promotion of health for people with physical and organic disabilities.
FUENTE