Covid-19 and the Ethical Framework
BC is in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have been hearing from families, people with disabilities and our members who are afraid of how people with disabilities will be treated if they are hospitalized.
Early in the pandemic, Inclusion BC reached out to the Provincial Health Office about health ethics through a disability lens. We wanted to ensure that hospitals and health care professionals understood their obligations and the rights of people with disabilities.
We also want to make sure that people with disabilities, their families, support workers and advocates are educated about their right to receive treatment in a non discriminatory way.
British Columbia is guided by the COVID-19 Ethical Decision-Making Framework, which reads:
Resource allocation decisions must be made with consistency in application across populations and among individuals regardless of their human condition (e.g. race, age, disability, ethnicity, ability to pay, socioeconomic status, pre-existing health conditions, social worth, perceived obstacles to treatment, past use of resources).
The framework is an important tool as we continue to advocate for equitable access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities.
