Milan Šveřepa wrote an article about healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities.
“We don’t ask for more than others – we only ask for what is ours. The right to health is the right to life.”
This quote from Sesili Ghvinjilia, a self-advocate from Georgia, closes my piece in EuroHealthNet Magazine: “The right to health, is the right to life.”
“Adults with intellectual disabilities die on average 19.5 years younger than the general population,” finds the LeDeR report in England, UK. “Although, avoidable deaths have declined since 2021, the rate for adults with a learning disability who died in 2023 is still nearly double the rate compared to the general population.”
In the article, I write about:
Communication problem. Health information that’s hard to understand.
Autonomy problem. Procedures carried out without explanation. And often without consent. Including forced sterilisation.
Diagnostic problem. Some health professionals assume a person’s symptoms are part of intellectual disability, instead of recognising them as separate conditions that need treatment.
Family members impacted. Parents and siblings of people with intellectual disabilities face serious health consequences of inadequate support, and of having little time or energy left to attend to their own wellbeing.
Healthcare cannot function as a reward for those who can navigate complex systems.