FOUNDATION COMPASSION ALZHEIMER BULGARIA VARNA 9002 BULGARIA 30 TSANKO

POSITION PAPER ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION LTD FORESTS TO
! FOUNDATION 3 FOR IE 8 AND EARLIER
13 FOUNDATIONS OF ALGEBRA 2 FOUNDATIONS OF ALGEBRA 2

19 GRATITUDE SURVEY CONDUCTED FOR THE JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION
2 FOUNDATIONS OF PHYSICS CALCULATION SHEET OCR PHYSICS A
2 HIGHSCOPE THE HIGHSCOPE EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION WAS

Foundation Compassion Alzheimer Bulgaria

Varna 9002, Bulgaria 30, Tsanko Dustabanov street; [email protected], Tel: +359 888 870095 http://www.alzheimerbulgaria.org

Suggestions for relevant recommendations in the field of coping with Alzheimer/Dementia for consideration for the Concluding Observations of the CESCR Committee for the 49th Session

(12 - 30 November 2012)

Information on Bulgarian context and recommendations on Article 12 - The right to physical and mental health

Bulgaria's budget for 2012 allocated just 4% of GDP for the health care sector, which falls a long way short of the money needed to guarantee security for the Bulgarian patients, high-quality services, prevention and access to modern treatment.

Over half million Bulgarians or a total of 582 809 people don't have the option of selecting a general physician in the village where they live and are forced to seek medical care in the closest town or city.

The quality of mental health care remain a stronghold of institutionalism. Care for people with mental diseases is provided mainly in outdated institutions (hospitals, dispensaries, social services and social care homes), falling under the jurisdiction of two separate ministries (Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy). All institutions work in isolation from each other, observing their own internal rules. There is no network linking these institutions and allowing for comprehensive care for people with mental health problems.

Psychiatric stigma towards the people with mental diseases is a major destructive factor, undermining the lives of both mental health service users and their families in the country. It is the cause for social isolation and discrimination, and leads to violation of their human rights.

Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia

100 000 people in Bulgaria suffer from Dementia and related disorders (50 000 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease). Within the whole European Union Bulgaria is among the only 3 countries, where the medicaments for home treatment of people with Alzheimer and related diseases are not covered financially by the public health system. This is very high burden for the families in Bulgaria. There are no specialised health and social cares, nor programs and services for the sufferers from Dementia. There are no policies and services for the caregivers. For the half of the affected patients the time for proper diagnosis varies between 6 months and 3 years, due to the inadequate capacity of the public health system.

The identified gaps in this field in Bulgaria require efforts of the government to invest in health and social systems to improve care and services for people with dementia and their caregivers. Establishing national policies, programs and legislation is also in accordance to the report of the World Health Organisation and Alzheimer ’s disease International “Dementia a public health priority” that calls for making Dementia a national public health and social care priority worldwide.

Non-governmental organisations call for the adoption of National Alzheimer plan by the government, according to the example of many other countries in Europe and worldwide.

Recommendations for Concluding Observations in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia:

Ensure that the medicaments for home treatment of Dementia/Alzheimer are covered financially by the public health system (namely by the National Health Insurance Fund)
Adoption of a National Alzheimer plan or Strategy on Dementia by the State aiming to ensure adequate financial and social support, services and policy measures.
To ensure access to timely diagnosis, commitment to good quality continuing care and services, caregiver support and research.
The State should implement the necessary efforts to establish services such as day care centers for Dementia patients, information and consultation centers and to support financially the NGOs for the provision of services and social support.
The State should implement information and education campaigns for the public aimed at raising awareness, improving understanding and decreasing stigmatizing attitudes.
People with dementia have the right to live in the community and to have access to health, social and other support services that enable them to lead full and meaningful lives within society. The State must ensure that people with dementia are accepted and are visible part of society.

2 THE FOUNDATION AND VALUES OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC
2019 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION RETURN APPLICATION BY EMAIL TO D158FOUNDATIONDISTRICT158ORG
2022%20DCT,%20Foundation%20Dentists%20and%20Undergraduates%20Mem%20App

Tags: bulgaria varna, in bulgaria, bulgaria, alzheimer, compassion, varna, foundation, tsanko