Broadwaybabyto<p>Covid has caused an increase in patients with Dysautonomia, a condition which destroyed my quality of life</p><p>Yet at Dysautonomia International’s big fundraiser, there was no mask requirement</p><p>Worse, they’re publicly stating masks don’t work & quoting the debunked Cochrane study </p><p>I’m generally not one to punch down on advocacy organizations because I think we need to fight like heck to lift one another up. </p><p>I appreciate that they had HEPA filters, corsi rosenthal boxes and were apparently providing free masks.<br>But I can’t sit silently when an organization that should be protecting people starts spouting far right rhetoric</p><p>What difference does it make if you put masks at the door when you’re telling people they don’t work?</p><p>If you’re not leading by example & wearing them yourself?<br>People look to these organizations to set the tone. </p><p>They assume they have our best interests at heart. </p><p>Dissuading people from masking during a pandemic is not advocacy. It’s not patient centred. It’s not leadership.<br>We’ve known for years that Long Covid often causes Dysautonomia/POTS. </p><p>There’s been such a significant increase in patients that there aren’t enough doctors to treat them. </p><p>Many have lost everything to the condition and are now fully disabled.<br>Yet this conference will end up causing more disability. </p><p>It will end up creating more patients when what we desperately need to do is stop the spread of Covid and start helping those who’ve been disabled already. </p><p>The best way to do that is to wear a mask.<br>Their post says: “there is insufficient evidence to show that mandatory masking in a public setting does anything to reduce COVID risk<br>Please read this Cochrane review, considered to be the definitive unbiased analysis of this important public health question”</p><p>That’s a lie.<br>They say that people feel “passionately” about the subject but then absolve themselves of any responsibility to actually protect the attendees. </p><p>They claim that doctors and Long Covid researchers agreed there was no need to mandate masks at the event.<br>I will be honest, I wish every indoor event and conference had mandatory masking. </p><p>I’m sick of people dying and becoming disabled from a disease we know how to prevent. </p><p>But I also recognize that almost no one is willing to require masks because we’re cosplaying 2019 “normal”<br>Hospitals, medical conferences and events for disabled people need to be the exception. </p><p>They need to do better. </p><p>They need to realize that they have a duty to do no harm. </p><p>They have a responsibility not to make sick people even sicker.<br>If they’re not willing to do that, the bare minimum they can do is not deride those who do take precautions. </p><p>They could encourage masking rather than spread lies that they don’t work. </p><p>They could refrain from sharing junk science that’s been largely debunked & discredited<br>We know masks work. </p><p>We know respirators work even better. </p><p>We know two way masking is better than one. </p><p>We know asymptomatic transmission is a very real threat. </p><p>We know all of this, and yet “advocacy” organizations are choosing to ignore it.</p><p>We have to push back on this. Over 400 million people have Long Covid. Many of them also have Dysautonomia. </p><p>Another Covid infection could wipe out whatever baseline they have left. </p><p>We need leaders and advocates to set the tone. </p><p>We need them to be honest about transmission</p><p>Above all else, we need them to stop the spread of Covid. </p><p>We need them to say “enough” to preventable death and disability. </p><p>We need them to wear masks and encourage others do the same. </p><p>When you know better, you do better</p><p><a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/longcovid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>longcovid</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/COVIDisAirborne" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>COVIDisAirborne</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/CovidIsNotOver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CovidIsNotOver</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/wearamask" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>wearamask</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/maskswork" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>maskswork</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/disability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>disability</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/ableism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ableism</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/eugenics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>eugenics</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/pots" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>pots</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/Dysautonomia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Dysautonomia</span></a></p>