Adults with HIV, multiple diseases and those who drink cream and alcohol are forced to stay in hospital

At least nine People living on the street They were transferred to First week of application Compulsory Hospitalization Law Located in Montevideo, Treinta y Tres and Durazno. The regulation, which allows people with consumption problems and other serious illnesses to be treated, was approved by the ruling party but raised questions, according to an investigation conducted by El País.

The ages of these people ranged from 32 to 76. In some cases, they were known to passers-by and residents of different Montevideo neighborhoods and inland areas, and they suffered Multiple diseases Based on the information collected, each item.

At least nine people were forcibly relocated after authorities were notified under the legal protection activated last Sunday. Telephone Complaint And will go on tour all over the country.

This is developed within the framework of the operations carried out by the organization Department of Social Development, Department of Public Health and Department of Internal Affairs,beside National Health Service Administration (ASSE), pursuant to the provisions of Law no. 20,279.

The wording states that the groups’ actions are dedicated to “protecting paramount interests, such as the health and lives of people, and do not imply punitive deprivation of their liberty.”

Among those who were transferred was a man in his 60s. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), who have Schizophreniacognitive impairment and have Long-term consumption of base cream.

Another transferee is a 76-year-old man who also suffers from cognitive impairment. Problematic drinking. Another 55-year-old was referred for treatment PsychopathologyAnother 54-year-old man also suffered from long-term consumption of bottom paste.

In the first week of the new regulations, a 42-year-old Chronic mental illnessSources said he had not received treatment when he was found.

Another person transferred was a 38-year-old man with psychosis and schizophrenia, while another 53-year-old also had schizophrenia and cognitive decline.

Another, aged 32, had psychiatric illness and cognitive decline. Another 47-year-old was also referred for being underweight and having a drinking problem.

Meadows, Director of the Social Security Administration, Fernanda AuerspergerIt said at a news conference this week that two “complex” cases were discovered when the referrals were made.

Photo: Francisco Flores/El ​​País Archive.

A person’s situation is like this: Respiratory conditions As the doctor diagnosed, “he cannot be left outdoors”. In another case, the intervention took place when the person was in a coma due to drug use.

The leader added that both were “quickly” transferred to hospital where they were later determined to be “out of danger.”

These are all cases that the government has begun to deal with within the framework of Law No. 20,279, the wording of which was introduced in February 2022 during the administration of the former Minister of Social Development. Martin LemaAfter many twists and turns, it was promulgated on May 25 this year and took effect on August 25.

A few days before the application, the mayor of Montevideo, Mauricio Zunino He asked that these people not be “re-traumatized” and questioned the new law, with Lema calling for “hypocrisy to be put aside.”

“he Wide frontWith these types of questions, we continue to insist that living on the streets is a right, but we do not agree with this. Living on the streets is a dramatic situation and a lack of rights,” Lema stressed at a press conference last week.

The new regulations amend Law No. 18,787, which has been in effect since 2011. Jose Mujica– The right to remove any person living on the streets without their knowledge if it is determined through medical evaluation that they are addicted to drugs, or that their judgment is impaired by some psychopathology that represents an imminent risk to themselves or to third parties.

It is worth remembering that since the previous law Involuntary transfer It only applies if there is a risk of “serious illness” or “death”, as applies to two of the nine cases listed above.

That is, the public organization will not transfer all cases observed on public roads, but only those who meet these conditions, which must be recognized by a doctor.

The recent provisions of Law No. 20,279 stipulate that Meades will accept complaints against those who live on the streets and who “Totally exposed and in need of some help”.

The same portfolio will provide major assistance to these people. If risks are detected, ASSE will be asked to send medical personnel to make a diagnosis.

If someone refuses treatment from an ASSE medical team, the Home Office may be asked to provide “assistance and collaboration to assist medical staff in providing appropriate attention and care”.

If a doctor at a public health institution detects one of the Extreme Cases As mentioned above, you will be transferred to a determined center. Once there, you must be seen by another doctor to certify the previously marked restrictions.

After this step, if the psychiatrist confirms hospitalization, the process of contacting the transferee “must comply with the provisions of the Mental Health Law No. 19,529.”

At least one of the nine people who were relocated remains in Villard’s Hospitalor (ASSE), confirmed by The Nation with a source at the health center after the referral a few hours later.

Latest Meads CensusThe report, published last August, found that the capital’s street population increased by 24% to 2,758 in 2023 compared to 2021, while the number of shelters also increased. Among other data, 91% of respondents said they had a drug problem.

In turn, a recent report prepared by Gonzalo Bustillo and Leticia Moreno of the School of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of the University of the Republic (FADU) states that there are also 5,015 “homeless” people in Montevideo, compared to 739 people in this situation in 2006. That is, an increase of almost 600%.

Sciarra: “Critical situation has been saved”

Faced with questions from the opposition and medical unions, Social Development Minister Alejandro Sciarra, in a consultation with El País, gave a “positive assessment” of the first week of implementation of Law 20,279.

“Really critical situations have been saved and they now belong to the health system, which will find them a better future,” Ciara stressed.

Along these lines, Meades, Lema’s successor, added that the application of the new law “confirms that it is yet another tool within the framework of all the tools we are deploying that overturns the theory of overflow of the health system, as we have heard during the pandemic.” The Secretary of State thus referred to the statement made this week by the president of the SMU, José Minarrieta.

He also noted that the implementation of Law 20,279 “destroys the theory that people’s rights will be insulted or violated, when the opposite is true.”

While he said there were still some areas that needed “improvement,” he insisted it was a tool “we can’t amputate.”

Photo: Francisco Flores/El ​​País Archive.

“The goal is to safeguard the lives and integrity of the people,” the Minister of Social Development said at the exit, after holding the first working meeting on the implementation of the regulations with President Luis Lacalle and other leaders.

“In this case, people who are very vulnerable because of mental health issues or addiction issues have lost their freedom,” he stressed at a news conference at the Executive Mansion.

The minister, like other leaders of the ruling party, noted that the launch of the law “was a response to the demands of civil organizations”, referring to Madres del Cerro.

Ciara said the implementation of the new regulations “does not necessarily mean that people with drug addiction will be forcibly transferred to hospitals.”

“If the transfer was involuntary, then the person must have been in a decompensated state at the time and unable to respond to his or her own freedom,” the leader said.

Fernanda Auersperg, director of the Meades Social Security Administration, believes that it is unlikely that Social Security will reach “saturation”. Health Care Center As the president of the Uruguayan Medical Union (SMU) warned, transfers under the new law, Jose MinaritaAs the organization said in a statement.

“I don’t think there will be saturation at the entrance of the hospitals (…) because they won’t stay there for months. It depends on the situation and the treatment prescribed by the doctor or psychiatrist,” Auersperger said in an interview with Globo Radio.

“It’s likely that this will start to saturate Public Health “This is already an operational problem,” Minarita said at a press conference hours earlier.

Shortly after his statement, SMU issued a statement saying, “The risk of already crowded emergency doors being overwhelmed is real and the inevitable result will be hospitalized patients returning to the streets within days.”

this Uruguayan Psychiatric Association On August 24, he said in another statement that he “completely disagrees” with Law No. 20,279. He also expressed “wariness” about the implementation of the new norms, saying that “Stigmatization and the risk of violations of the rights of homeless people.”