From: BRYOSEMITE@...

To: DisabilityConvention@yahoogroups.com ; conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com

Cc: disabilityParty@yahoogroups.com ; dismissed-as-disabled@yahoogroups.com ; invisible-NO-MORE@yahoogroups.com ; C-O-P-I-N-G_UN@yahoogroups.com ; cannaday@... ; pain-in-the-law@yahoogroups.com ; action2002@... ; adfonatt@...

Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 3:32 PM

Subject: Re: [DisabilityConvention] Human Rights, Medical Matters, and economic intere...

"Of all the forms of inequality,
injustice in health care
is the most shocking and inhumane." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Bryon R. MacDonald
Project and Policy Development Manager
California Work Incentives Initiative
A Community Based Collaboration
World Institute on Disability
www.WID.org
www.preview.disabilitybenefits101.org– beta test preview site
510 16th Street, Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone 510-251-4304
Cell 510-910-9726
Fax 510- 763-4109
TTY 510-208-9493
bryon@...

 

 

 

In a message dated 9/6/2003 12:26:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, mreina@... writes:

Hi Katherine, Linda and all,

 

Because Health is a Human Right, we should strongly insist on having a main principle: this right can never, NEVER be considered a variable subordinated to economic or whatever interests.

 

Given that the medical care is also  business, many international and local medical companies always lobby through our congresses and international financing bodies to get laws and governmental dispositions to increase their profits.

 

And including people with disabilities is not a profitable thing, my fellows!

 

Being an Argentinian, I am fed up with the advice of those UN financing bodies that, seeing a little bit of improvement in my country now, start promptly to claim more *dis-regulations*  and *modernization* that means privatization of the health system and the social security system, and reduction of public services and other state activities, which are the only source of services and job positions that the poor and  many disabled people can reach. They don´t want the state to spend money even in public health, they want the country to give back money to the donors or creditors. The only thing they seem to want is that.

 

I am not just accusing the donors and the international actors of our all problems.We, Argentinians, are responsible. Nevertheless also Wall Street and the financial bodies played an important role in our current crisis. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15438-2003Aug2&notFound=true

 

One of the most affected population is the disabled one 

http://www.disabilityworld.org/06-08_02/gov/argentina.shtml

 

Despite my country is not the only one in this situation, last year, during the temporary forum on poverty and disability, just few people talked about deep causes of exclusion and how globalization and the international financing bodies are affecting PWDs worldwide, in my opinion.

 

My heart feels really dissapointed when we insist on talking about disconnected *good practices* while the general spirit is to take money back from the defaulter countries subordinating the rest of the issues.

 

I cannot really see how an UN convention may honestly addreess health for PWDs, my friends, except for stating Health as a fundamental right very strongly. But this is not enough at all! Anyway, we already know that a convention will not solve all our problems.

 

 

MV

----- Original Message -----

From: Seelman, Katherine

To: DisabilityConvention@yahoogroups.com ; conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com

Cc: disabilityParty@yahoogroups.com ; dismissed-as-disabled@yahoogroups.com ; invisible-NO-MORE@yahoogroups.com ; C-O-P-I-N-G_UN@yahoogroups.com ; Paul and Marijo Cannaday ; pain-in-the-law@yahoogroups.com ; associates ; adfonatt@...

Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 2:47 PM

Subject: RE: [DisabilityConvention] Query as to Human Rights Aspects of Medical Matters

I cannot agree enough with those who favor addressing Human Rights Aspects of Medical Matters.  Because Linda MF has supported that position so eloquently I will not try to justify the need to address adequate, affordable and accessible health care.  I will add a minor addendum on accessible medical instrumentation--a problem existing in countries that depend on medical technology for diagnostic and other procedures.  (The caveat being although a "Western" or "indstrialized nation" problem now, markets inevitably spill over.) Imaging equipment, such as mamograms are routinely designed for the "normal" person.  Examining tables are routinely inaccessible.  Medical technology used by those in the health-related professions can be designed with mutiple sensory outputs.  However, the incentives are not strong and thus an inaccessible stethoscope, for example, may pose a barrier for a person with a disability who aspires to enter the health-related professions.

 

Kate Seelman

-----Original Message-----
From: L. D. Misek-Falkoff [mailto:include@...]
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 10:21 AM
To: DisabilityConvention@yahoogroups.com; conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com
Cc: disabilityParty@yahoogroups.com; dismissed-as-disabled@yahoogroups.com; invisible-NO-MORE@yahoogroups.com; C-O-P-I-N-G_UN@yahoogroups.com; Paul and Marijo Cannaday; pain-in-the-law@yahoogroups.com; associates; adfonatt@...
Subject: [DisabilityConvention] Query as to Human Rights Aspects of Medical Matters

Hello Maria and all here, I wish to reply again on this topic.  You are so very on point about health care.

 

May I comment further. I post in some length because I have not posted on this for a bit.

 

For some, physical disabilities health care may not be an issue, but when it is it truly is a giant one and on a human rights basis.  So I and others are extremely concerned with the human rights of persons with medical issues in what is called the health-care context.  These remain inclusion issues regarding the Disability Convention until incorporated by more  persons with medical problems at the table.  

 

We sincerely wouldn't want anyone who is not ill to become ill,  for example.  But all who have been or are ill now know all too much about the  human rights violations that too often occur when trying to deal with those said to be health care providers. Consider the access problems which abound and the discrimination.  (By the way, wondering, do we have representatives of World Health Organization here who concentrate on Human Rights? Discussions seem to suggest there is a gap in understanding and dialogue.I have met recently a member of this organization who seems to have humanitarian concerns).

 

We may (I think do) benefit highly from building and maintaining these bridges, and bridges to other resources such as civil society organizations and other interest groups in the United Nations so we don't fall into exclusions which undercut the broader goals, in context of U.N. Human Rights Instruments developing in broad -  but in an organized way keeping the *nothing without us* theme in focus.

 

Appreciatively, I must state that participation in  civil societry NGO's has indeed enriched my own perspectives, and also the DPI  (U.N. Department of Information) relationships are very helpful. I much agreed with Kicki's venturing, at the Second Session Ad. Hoc Committee Meetings, on the value of such lineages for the Convention itself and I heartily agreed and continue to agree having involved myself in the area..

 

As example of beneficiaries of the Treaty, people with pain - a very large group everywhere - are only one example but a clear one  where the human rights violations can be enormous, here including open and gross disrespect as well as blocked access to care, and obstruction of choices of many kinds needed for hope and help. In moderating and being a member of chronic pain Internet discussions for some time I can testify that human rights violations are regularly reported whether or not characterized that way.  (We need to raise expectations that these rights will be protected and reach all including the frankly impaired and not throw out the persons with avoidance of the medically impaired from good function, because what is medical is best known by those with medical needs just as with the other disabilities represented but not being called medical).  

 

Because pain often occurs across many medical conditions, I have attempted to address this when there are opportunities, and will repost the links later on in different context. Endeavoring in these directions, I have applied to the Disability Caucus Steering Committee to be a member/voice. 

 

I suggest that medical impairment issues are being exempted too breezily (not a moral judgment but a matter of communications flow)  in order to express the also very important issues social models, although others may argue it is not... that is, it is indeed agreeably seen that rights for all can be rights for one, but the experiential base of knowledge for those who go through medical systems is something in itself to be contributed to the process because rights rarely will just trickle down on their own accord  Express/explicit/welcomed Input from these perspectives can nourish the entire process. These are domains in themselves, with  complex components especially as people age, which is also an important topic, disabilities as one ages, also under-represented.  (May I say with some humor that I would really rather not be in these categories but what can one do without magic!)

 

Sending best wishes, and never give up!  :) LindaMF.

 

Individual Email. References: [L. D. Misek-Falkoff, Ph.D., J.D., a U.N. Disability Convention NGOs Rep. of  the Communication and Coordination Committee for the U.N. (CCC/U.N. (ECOSOC & DPI))  and (Information Habitat; member of  NGOs  AARP,  AAUW, ACLU , Committee on the Status of Women, Committee on Aging, Committee on Mental Health Human Rights Working Group. Mermber,  AAPD. APS (American Pain Society),. Speake/r the National Disability Party and Chronic Pain Caucus Chair. Moderator, Internet pain/law/opther Groups. 

 

----- Sign-line revised 072003 : Recipients, please share where there seems a fit:  http://home.att.net/~ldmf-docs/announce-c.htm    invisible-NO-MORE (peer-2-peer) ; C-O-P-I-N-G_UN  (both peer  and support/providers, Community of Pain Interest Networking Grps for UN Participation.

----- Original Message -----

From: Maria Veronica Reina

To: conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com

Cc: DisabilityConvention@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 10:51 AM

Subject: [DisabilityConvention] Query as to Human Rights Aspects of Medical Matters

People with disabilities are often restricted in their access to adequate health-care because of a societal policy of distributing resources in a manner that limits the resources available for the provision of health-care to people with disabilities.  I wish  the Convention would reflect this.  I understand that Kicki stressed the point I had wanted to remark. I am sorry for insisting on this issue, but it is that I´m facing everyday. Our health system is broke and we, PWD  and people with chronic illness from Argentina, are systematically discriminated. Health Public Service is collapsed and Private Service does not enroll us! How are we going to survive? Anyway, I know that a convention will not resolve all our problems

----- Original Message -----

From: Kicki Nordström

To: 'L D Misek-Falkoff' ; DisabilityConvention@yahoogroups.com ; Roseangela Berman-Bieler ; Bob Metts ; Markus Sudibyo ; Ron Dudley Chandran ; Joshua Malinga ; Rachel Hurst ; Khalfan Khalafan ; Topong Kulkhanchit ; Kicki Nordström ; Justine Kiwanuka ; Santiago Velazquez Duarte ; Anneli Joneken ; Leo Valdes ; Kalle Konkkola ; Tomas Lagerwall ; info@... ; moira@... ; conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com ; Scott Brown

Cc: adf ; conventionondisability@yahoogroups.com ; dduncan@... ; fcisneros@... ; PsyDoc70@... ; include@... ; ndpmain

Sent: Monday, August 19, 2002 3:44 AM

Subject: [conventionondisability] SV: Query as to Human Rights Aspects of Medical Matters (was M/C/: An issue related to definition

 

 

Medical care must be expressed in a convention on disability in terms of "The need of and access to quality health care must be provided".

 

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