Calls for urgent action to prevent learning disability deaths
An urgent call for action has been issued in order to help prevent learning disability deaths.
Life expectancy among people with learning disabilities is at least 25 years less than the rest of the population. A report comparing data found that while life expectancy had increased, inequality was still an issue.
Data findings have showed there was a higher incidence of death among those with learning disabilities during the pandemic, with April 2020 showing 59% of all deaths were due to the virus.
Moreover, the pandemic has seen further access to healthcare inequalities, in one such instance the father of a man with Down's Syndrome was told by a doctor that should his son require the use of a ventilator, access would be denied.
Source: BBC News, 12th June 2021