MPs Debate 'Blatant Discrimination' Of Oyxgen Users, UK

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 02 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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Yesterday MPs debated the discrimination that people with a lung condition can experience when they travel on planes. People with lung conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Pulmonary Hypertension often require additional supplementary oxygen due to the low levels of oxygen in their blood. However, due to the policies set by airline companies, it is both expensive and difficult for people who need supplementary oxygen to plan and use air travel.

Very few airlines allow people to bring their own concentrator on board or an oxygen cylinder. Instead, they insist that passengers should buy oxygen directly from the airlines, sometimes at huge cost.

Nick Ainger MP, who led the debate, said that this is "blatant discrimination" against disabled passengers and called on the Transport Minister to end this practice. To emphasise the extent of this problem, Mr Ainger read out the charges and restrictions that are put in place by the majority of airlines.

"Oxygen is as indispensable to sufferers as the wheelchair is to those with walking difficulties. Unfortunately, that fact is not recognised by many airlines… To refuse patients the right to carry medical equipment that has been certified as safe, and then to charge large sums for alternative provision, is outrageous", said the MP for Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire.

The British Lung Foundation, Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK and Muscular Dystrophy Campaign are campaigning together to end the restrictions and charges that airlines place on people with a lung condition.

Members of these charities have been writing in their hundreds to their MP in support of this campaign. As a result, 223 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion in Parliament that supports this campaign.

The Transport Minister, Paul Clark MP, said "I congratulate the British Lung Foundation, the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK and the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign on their work to raise the profile of this issue".

"Today's debate takes us another step forward. Raising public awareness about the companies that charge and those that do not will help to focus minds. We need to ensure that information is available for travellers so that they can make an informed choice. We need to continue our dialogue with the industry and await the EC regulation review in 2010", concluded the Transport Minister.

To view the debate please click here or to read the full text of the debate please click here.

Source
British Lung Foundation