Between 2015 and 2016 a total of 639 senior citizens were abandoned by their families in Costa Rica. Vacation season registers the peak of abandonment cases.
According to the National Council of the Elderly (Conapam), when relatives want to leave these people they resort to various techniques, including leaving them in public places, overmedicate them or not give them anything so their bodies decompensate and have to be hospitalized. They also leave them “taking care of the house” while they go “for a walk.”
Thefore, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Conapam will launch a campaign this Wednesday, so that families take responsibility for this population, especially during the holidays.
We cannot tolerate that in our society. Our elders have left us a history and a country and abandoning them in some institution is not a way to thank them,”
said Ombudsman Montserrat Solano.