As COVID-19 cases increase in Japan, disability researchers warn of ‘neglect’ and ‘crisis’

Written with extracts translated from Kyodo

April 9th 2020

Professor Shinya Tateiwa of Ritsumeikan University, issued a statement in light of the spread of the new coronavirus, “so as not to neglect the lives of people with disabilities,” calling upon healthcare professionals. Amid concerns over the the healthcare delivery system, such as the lack of beds and respirators to accommodate patients, Tateiwa expressed a sense of crisis as his life could be selected.

The statement, issue on April 6th said that, considering the movement in the United States and the United States, where infections are exploding, “The treatment of people with disabilities is refused or delayed based on discriminatory thinking (eugenic thought) that regards the value of life of people with disabilities as low. And that discrimination is already taking place in the world. “