Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report that people with
disabilities faced risk of death, physical, social, and mental
health distress due to extreme heat particularly if "left to
cope with dangerous temperatures on their own".
Some people with disabilities are more likely to have health
conditions or use medication that can affect the body's ability
to respond to heat. Having to stay home due to the heat can also
lead to social isolation, HRW said.
Jonas Bull, assistant disability rights researcher at HRW, told
Reuters that inaccessible urban spaces exacerbated the problem.
Bull said his research focused on Spain but can be applied to
other nations in Europe, which according to scientists is the
fastest warming continent on the planet.
The report said lack of representation in the process of
developing heatwave emergency plans meant the voices of people
with disabilities were often not heard and their needs not
included.
In Spain, one of the European nations that experienced
record-breaking heatwaves last summer, the national plan to
address the impacts of climate change lists actions to protect
"vulnerable" populations but it does not propose any specific
measures for people with disabilities, HRW said.
HRW interviewed 33 people with disabilities in the Spanish
region of Andalusia and all said "they felt neglected" during
heatwaves.
Bull recently presented the report to authorities in Andalusia
and said they were committed to prioritise the issue in the
future.
Heatwaves led to some 16,000 excess deaths last year in Europe
but some countries, including Spain, do not break down data to
show how people with disabilities are affected.
HRW said data was crucial to be able to implement targeted
measures, as was bringing people with disabilities to the table
when putting together climate plans.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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