RFK Center Calls for Access to Treatment for Gulf Communities sick from BP disaster

Gulf Coast residents need improved access to affordable healthcare more than ever in the wake of the BP drilling disaster, according to the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, which held a briefing on Capitol Hill on July 27 to advocate for legislative action on this issue.

At the briefing, Stephen Bradberry, 2005 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate and Executive Director of the New Orleans-based Alliance Institute, explained that Gulf residents have historically had insufficient access to healthcare, but this has been exacerbated by the BP oil spill, which sent 170 million gallons of crude oil into federal waters followed by two million gallons of chemical dispersants. People are reportedly coping with over fifty illnesses that can be attributed to exposure to these dispersants. Mr. Bradberry and the President of the RFK Center, Kerry Kennedy, emphasized the need for a federal response to the worsening healthcare crisis and called for improved training of medical staff to recognize, track, and treat symptoms of toxic poisoning.

The RFK Center has partnered with Mr. Bradberry since 2005, and the Capitol Hill briefing is their latest collaboration related to the BP oil disaster. From July 24 to 26, 2011, Ms. Kennedy led the delegation–the groups’ second such delegation on the subject – hosted by Mr. Bradberry. The delegation visited Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and met with fishermen, oystermen, shrimpers, restaurant workers, and residents who continue to experience symptoms of toxic poisoning in the wake of the disaster.

Read more:

• Briefing Paper [PDF Format], RFK Center and the Alliance Institute
• BP Disaster a Year Later, Healthcare Crisis Worsens, Inter Press Service
• Un año después, el derrame de BP sigue enfermando, Inter Press Service
• Um ano depois, o derrame da BP ainda causa doenças, Correio do Brasil
• BP-ramp blijft na een jaar gezondheidsproblemen opleveren, De Wereld Morgen