Doctors Without Borders (MSF) deplored this Monday that many elderly people infected with the coronavirus die without their loved ones, due to fears of spread. Luis Encinas, medical coordinator of NGO operations in Spain, said the situation in his country, where the Covid-19 killed more than 13,000 people, was of particular concern for the elderly who "die alone in hospitals and retirement homes ".
"The procedures must be immediately adapted to allow these people to feel comfortable at the end of their lives," he stressed during a virtual press conference.
The example of Ebola
In particular, he urged countries to take into account the lessons learned during the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which killed more than 11,000 people between 2013 and 2016. Initially, actions to combat the disease had was disturbed by community resistance, one of the causes of which was the arrival of foreigners who took the sick to hospitals or barricaded tents from which few returned.
It quickly became apparent that families and communities should be involved in decisions regarding end-of-life care and be present at burials ensuring the dignity of the dead and the medical safety of their loved ones. According to Luis Encinas, we must do the same in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and find a “balance” between the two principles.
A call to create "comfort hotels"
In Barcelona, the authorities have launched an appeal to create "comfort hotels" for end-of-life patients. The goal is that their loved ones can share their last moments with them, in an environment that guarantees medical and psychological support for all. Luis Encinas stressed that there was a huge need for such a system, stressing that the number of cases in Spain, which amounts to more than 135,000, is certainly much lower than the reality.
Chiara Lepora, who coordinates MSF operations in the Italian province of Lodi, told journalists that the same is true in Italy, which has nearly 16,000 dead. "In the retirement homes we visited, we saw a mortality rate of 10 to 30% among the sick," she said, saying it was "tragic" to live this "in a situation of 'confinement'.
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- Msf
- The elderly
- Covid 19
- Society
- Coronavirus