Japan Press Weekly

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2021 September 22 - 28 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

235 mental hospital inpatients with COVID-19 died without receiving appropriate treatment: association data

Among mental hospital inpatients with COVID-19, 235 died because they were rejected to be admitted from general medical institutions designated for COVID-19 cases. This was shown in the results of a survey by the Japan Psychiatric Hospitals Association.

The association consisting of 1,185 private institutions in late August conducted a survey to determine member hospitals’ situations amid the pandemic. In the survey, 310 of the respondent hospitals experienced a spread of infections at their facilities. In these hospitals, 3,602 inpatients and 1,489 hospital workers were tested positive. Of the 3,602 inpatients, 235 died as their transfer requests were rejected by general hospitals designated for COVID-19 cases.

Nationally, the death rate among reported COVID-19 cases stood at 1%. In contrast, the rate for mental hospitals reached 6.5%.

An expert on issues regarding psychiatric hospitals said that as the association’s data does not cover all mental hospitals in Japan, the Health and Welfare Ministry should conduct a comprehensive fact-finding survey.

Kyorin University Professor Hasegawa Toshio said, “Mentally disabled people are suffering disadvantages due to their disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits all discrimination on the basis of disability. Japan ratified the treaty, and it is unacceptable to ignore the situation in which people’s lives are endangered because of mental disabilities.”