Child patients starve in Turkey's mental hospitals

[emad]

Child patients starve in Turkey's mental hospitals
Nicola Smith, Brussels



TURKEY is to be pressed by the European commission to improve the treatment of its psychiatric patients after an undercover investigation found children in its hospitals dying from starvation, dehydration and lack of medical care.

Olli Rehn, the European enlargement commissioner, said last week that the commission would look into conditions in psychiatric hospitals as part of its assessment of Turkey’s fitness to join the European Union. Membership talks were formally opened last week but it could be at least a decade before it is decided whether Turkey will be admitted.

During a visit to Ankara last week Rehn warned his hosts to expect tougher scrutiny of their human rights record. “The EU has reflected its commitment and now I expect Turkey to respect its commitments and this means vigorously implementing political reforms in the area of human rights,” he said.

A two-year investigation by Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI), a Washington-based lobby group, revealed a heart-wrenching picture of brutal abuse in Turkey’s mental health system.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1817209,00.html

[Ladyhawk]

1. That makes me so incredibly sad...and I wonder if this is a snapshot

of the future in the United States. :( Mental hospitals here grow worse with each passing year, ignored by our "representatives" in government.