The Bureau of the Parliament of the Canary Islands has reported the admission for processing of the motion presented by the municipal group of Lanzarote En Pie (LEP) in the Arrecife City Council, in which the Government of the Canary Islands is urged to "develop a specific protocol for dental care for patients with mental disabilities, have adapted operating rooms available and promote training programs for healthcare personnel."
In this regard, the spokesperson for the political group, Leticia Padilla, has expressed "satisfaction for having managed to unite positions in the face of an important social demand," while announcing that "to continue supporting and reinforcing the proposal, it will be presented in the same terms by the councilor in Yaiza, Ramiro Muñoz, in the next municipal plenary session." LEP recalls that the motion presented by the municipal group was approved on March 25, and had the unanimous support of all the political groups that make up the Plenary of the capital's consistory.
In the LEP proposal, it was argued that oral diseases in people with different mental disabilities "are the same as those of any patient." However, "they are at greater risk of developing them and it is very common for them to experience problems eating, especially chewing, and difficulty maintaining adequate oral hygiene." In this sense, it was stated that providing them with good dental care "has become a great demand from families in recent years."
"It is good news that the proposal is being taken to Parliament because it is an important demand from families, as they are forced to make an extra effort to access dental services under the same conditions as the rest," says the coordinator of the LEP working group on disability and accessibility, Lucía Ballesteros.
"It is essential to provide specialized and trained personnel for dental care for patients with mental disabilities, since in many cases they have to be sedated or anesthetized and that requires a certain degree of specialization and responsibility," she adds.
In addition, the municipal political group demanded that "the implementation of operating rooms adapted to the needs of people with disabilities and their availability to professionals in the dental sector of the Canary Islands public health system be carried out; and that they promote training programs for healthcare personnel to attend in the best possible way the different characteristics suffered by people with disabilities."