NEUROPSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IMPROVES HUMAN RIGHTS

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000382 SENSITIVE SIPDIS G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, WHA/PPC, WHA/BSC KBEAMER, STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF ELAB PGOV ASEC PA SUBJECT: NEUROPSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IMPROVES HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Asuncion's Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Paraguay's only facility for mentally impaired patients, resolved or alleviated several deficiences cited by previous human rights reports, including overcrowding; inadequate patient care; rampant infections; malnourishment; underaged patients; insufficient staffing; and a lack of access to water and electricity. Hospital Director Dr. Nora Gomez told PolOff Paraguayan government assistance increased significantly over the past three years. The hospital physically separated patients by both gender and temperament and had ample consumables, electricity, and running water. Dr. Gomez told PolOff that the hospital was fully staffed and able to handle its patient load. A representative from the NGO Mental Disability Rights International, which initially prompted the Paraguayan government to action, stated the hospital still urgently needs to improve security and accountability. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) The 2006 Human Rights Report for Paraguay reported significant abuses at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, including overcrowding; inadequate physical and mental health care; widespread parasitic and skin infections among patients; inadequate nourishment; underaged patients; and insufficient staffing. The report also noted that some buildings lacked roofs and that patients lacked adequate access to water and electricity. The NGOs Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) and Paraguay's Center for Justice in International Law (CEJIL) filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2002 asking it to intervene to protect hospital patients. The Paraguayan government subsequently signed an agreement in March 2005 with MDRI and CEJIL pledging to improve hospital conditions. ¶3. (SBU) Hospital Director Dr. Nora Gomez told PolOff that the Paraguayan government -- notably the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Senate's Commission on Human Rights, and the Office of First Lady Gloria Penayo de Duarte -- improved hospital conditions over the past three years. She stated that the hospital reduced the number of patients from 460 in 2005 to 253 in 2008, allowing the hospital to close one dilapidated wing. She explained that the hospital reduced its patient count by releasing rehabilitated patients or transferring others to other hospitals or public shelters. She stated that some patients under 18 years of age were still interned at the hospital but that the hospital has attempted, whenever possible, to place them with their families or in foster homes. Dr. Gomez explained that many family members abandon mentally impaired persons at the hospital's doorstep; others end up in the streets. (NOTE: Paraguayan law mandates that extended family members care for mentally ill relatives, and family members can be prosecuted for negligence. This law is rarely enforced. END NOTE.) PolOff did not observe any children or adolescents on site during his visit. ¶4. (SBU) The hospital physically separated patients by gender and temperament. "Highly aggressive" patients were sequestered in their living quarters. Dr. Gomez stated that the hospital allowed "more benign" patients to roam in designated areas. A wall physically separated the men's and women's common areas; however, gaps allowed patients easy access to most areas of the hospital grounds. ¶5. (SBU) The facility was generally tidy with ample foodstuffs, clothing and shelter. It had functional lighting, running water, and buildings with roofs. The kitchen, food storage areas, and laundry facility appeared adequate to meet patients' needs. The hospital pharmacy stored large quantities of medicines and pharmaceutical products in a climate controlled, limited access environment. Teaching and Investigations Director Liliana Bendon told PolOff that the pharmacy opened in November 2006 with Paraguayan government assistance. Likewise, the hospital's health unit, psychology unit and laboratory were clean, orderly, and well-stocked. Dr. Gomez said the hospital staff actively monitors patients to ensure that they receive adequate health care. She noted that patients undergo psychiatric evaluations, and if necessary, receive lab work, but that neither the psychology unit nor laboratory had adequate staffing or equipment to offer patients comprehensive diagnoses and treatments. ¶6. (SBU) Patients' living quarters were relatively clean but austere with bare concrete walls and floors and twin-sized hospital beds; urine pooled under one patient's bed. Rooms were lit by overhead lights and had open windows with bars to allow sunlight. However, windows were paneless and rooms lacked heating or cooling systems, exposing patients to the elements. Men and women were held in separate maximum security wings. One vocal patient had several burns on his chest; Nurse Gustavo Lopez stated that the patient burned himself with a cigarette and that staff brought him to maximum security to isolate him. Lopez confirmed that the hospital trained nurses to restrain patients and that the local unit of the National Police remained ready to respond to emergencies. The hospital compound has one gated entrance and is surrounded by concrete walls with barbed wire. ¶7. (SBU) Dr. Gomez told PolOff that the hospital was fully staffed and able to handle its patient load. She noted that the hospital would like to decrease its patient load to capacity (200 patients) but that it is the only Paraguayan hospital capable of handling chronically mentally ill patients. She expressed gratitude to the Paraguayan government for improving the facility and providing much-needed resources. However, she told PolOff that the hospital still needs a new ambulance to transport patients to other hospitals, and that it is still unable to provide sufficient psychological assistance to patients. She expressed concern that the hospital does not adequately address all patients' needs. ¶8. (SBU) Although MDRI Legal Advisor Alison Hillman agreed that hospital conditions improved, she told PolOff May 21 that the hospital still urgently needs to improve security and accountability. She indicated that several patients were recently killed or abused, including a male and female patient found dead in December 2007 in the "Chacra" greenspace located behind the hospital. Hillman stated that allegations of sexual abuse of patients by hospital staff abound, and that the hospital lacks a system of accountability that allows staff to detect risky situations and ensure abuse is investigated and prosecuted. She said that the hospital staff pays inadequate attention to chronically mentally ill patients and frequently locked them away in isolated confinement. Finally, she told PolOff that the hospital needs to change its policy to allow discharged patients to return to the pharmacy for medication, because the pharmacy is typically their only source for the medications they need. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: The hospital improved since 2005 but still needs to enhance its security and accountability systems. Although the hospital still does not appear to meet international public health standards, it has adequately addressed key deficiencies documented in previous human rights reports. END COMMENT. Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion Cason