All human beigns feel fear at one point or another durng their lifetime. But so do other mammals and creatures on this Earth. Even plants do it. So why do we sometimes think we have the right to be aggressive only because we are afraid and frustrated with our MS or with situations that correlate at some point with this condition?
In Romania, there is a strange case of social injustice that happens right before our eyes. Each year, there is a Government budget being decided for each of the ministries administration needs. Healthcare is underfunded for all that it needs to do and take care of, including the National MS Treatment Programme, which enrolls MS patients on lists, in order to receive (or wait for) the treatment they need.
Given this situation, many sufferers are left behind and without treatment for many years to come, only making their condition worse, depending on the state they are on or on the evolution of their MS. This situation has numerous ripple effects, from the person’s own health, to the national GDP (PIB in some countries) and society’s efficiency at large.
It’s pretty simple actually: many people get diagnosed with MS between ages 20 and 40, that period of time when one is supposed to be at the most active stage of life, when you get on top of your career, when you start a familiy and basically just when you are at your most productive, and paying the most social contributions to the state.
And all of a sudden, because you are not given treatment, you risk not being able to work because of your growing dissabilities. You are no longer able to contribute to the national GDP. In the situation you get worse, you’ll need a caregiver, person which will also need to be payed by the state to take care of you.
Instead of focusing on keeping people functional as much as possible, they put people on lists and in the long run end up paying even more money to and for them, resulting in less money to go around next time, and so the problem goes deeper and becomes worse. Exponnentially worse.
The point where I was headed with this article is that in this context, fear causes even more trouble than just physical dissability. It destroys emotional and psychological wellbeing. It trashes mental welbeing not only of the person that has MS and no acces to treatment, but of the people around them as well: family, friends, life partner, etc. The emotional wellbeing of a person diagnosed with MS is very delicate. I have written about it before and I will write about it again.
These people enter a downward spiral that puts them on a very powerful deffensive, and they become aggresive to anyone who can be blamed for their tragic situation. Knowing the corruption that still exists in this country, they get to think that all the people who do receive treatment are bribing for their meds, surpassing everyone who has been waiting for many years.
Given the eligibility criteria in MS, and trusting in the competence of the medical specialists that are taking care of this illness, I can’t help but wonder what’s happening here? Why aren’t these people receiving their rightfull treatments? Is it dependent on country area, on neurologist, on MRI’s or on what? I accept that there are cases of people who are influent enough to pay extra to get in front, but that’s not a general rule.
This year I’ve once again saw what extreme frustration and fear can do to people in this situation. They just want to live a normal life for as long as they can, and they are being refused this simple human right.
Here at SMart Choice Lifestyle, we’re going to start doing something for these people even sooner than we planned. We will investigate the right ways and strategies on how to do it. We already have some ideas in mind and were planning to act on them later this year. But this has got to start sooner.
In due time, making sure that we have a strong strategy in place, we’ll get there. You know what they say: “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”. We are aware that MS is a condition that does not get well with time, but we take that risk in orded to do things right.
Thank you for your understanding and please share this article so that many more people get to know how things are here in Romania for some people living with MS.
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This was a collective article, to let you know that we hear you. As fellow MS patients, we understand what you are going through and plan to make a change. Stick with us, have faith and let us know if you want to help.
Thank you for your understanding!
Wishing you the best health,
Alexandra & the SMart Choice Lifestyle team