Disabled persons in viral pandemics: The example of Covid-19
The main aim of this publication is to identify ways to overcome the challenge to provide more equitable conditions for people with disabilites. This helps societies to fulfil their moral responsibility to be fair and inclusive in respect of those of its members who are disadvantaged and markedly more vulnerable during a pandemic period.
The publication concludes that three problems characterise the plight of the disabled during a pandemic situation:
- Risk that triage for acute care may degrade their priority relative to non-disabled people, something that has been demonstrated to contravene basic medical ethics;
- Withdrawal or curtailment of routine support mechanisms, coupled perhaps with difficult problems caused by the need for physical distancing in order to reduce infection risks;
- The imposition of “blanket”, “one-size-fits-all” measures that do not take the needs of the disabled properly into account.
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