Nursing Homes, Violating Human Rights?

In Belgium, elderly individuals in nursing homes were not given proper access to hospital treatment before dying. 61/3% of Belgium's COVID-19 deaths stem from the nursing home population. Families who put their elderly relatives in the nursing homes were expecting round-the-clock and adequate care, instead the nursing home network failed the families and elderly individuals living there. In addition, the enforcement/authority sector also failed the individuals in homes, and those working there, as they did not implement measures fast enough.

As Belgium has been one of Europe's highest COVID-19 infections in a country, this problem of the elderly in nursing homes not receiving proper care contributes heavily to this daunting statistic: 14,400 deaths in a country of 11.5 million. Without the transfer to hospitals, ventilator use, for example, could not have aided these individuals. 

Belgium claims it has publicly denounced this act, and is taking steps for improvement, as they also suffered setbacks in relation to PPE and contamination condensing with the Belgian armed forces having to help mediate fear and tension with local authorities. However, though the nursing homes remained very full, hospital ICU units never acquired enough patients to fill 2,000 beds, showing that if the elderly were to seek hospital care they would have had access. In trying to not succumb to hospital overload, the authorities and those in power were too cautious and neglected many in need. Guidelines were followed to harshly, notes the relatives of those who died from COVID-19 in nursing homes, and only 57% of serious cases were transferred to hospitals; causing many to die premature. 

However, those in charge refute the claims against them about not providing adequate care to the elderly. However, testing of nursing homes was not introduced until august, several months after the pandemic begun and many lives were already lost. The article shows that Belgium needed to provide suitable PPE and instruction to caretakers long before August. In summary, this article shows the reality of nursing care homes and that attention must be given to those who are there and paying for this service. 

- Liz

Article:

https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-belgium-europe-b23dd8c702f43ab9abf0e5b51ff468c9?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=333e0b1a76-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_13_02_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-333e0b1a76-2994893