Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in occupied Palestine: 3 martyrs, including a child, as a result of Israeli occupation forces bombing displaced persons' tents in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Yedioth Ahronoth: Concern in "Israel" over changes within the US administration in recent days.
Al-Qassam Brigades says its fighters are engaging in fierce clashes with the occupation forces, killing and wounding soldiers east of Jabalia camp.
Israeli media platforms are circulating preliminary reports about a multi-causality ambush in Jabalia camp, Gaza.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 35 martyrs, 75 injured in occupation targeting of civilians seeking food aid in Rafah, Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Da Silva: What is happening in Gaza is not a war, it is a genocide
Da Silva: Even the Jewish people do not want this war; it is revenge by a government against the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state
Brazilian President Lula da Silva: What we are seeing is not a war between two armies. [What we have is a] completely professional army that is killing women and children in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas: We affirm our readiness to immediately begin a round of indirect negotiations to reach an agreement on the points of contention
Hamas: We welcome the continued Qatari and Egyptian efforts to end the war waged by the Zionist occupation against our people

Spain: Patients must choose between eating or breathing

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Reuters
  • 19 Jan 2023 13:53
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

A new report by Reuters explains that the energy crisis could drive some patients in Spain and other European countries into poverty, leaving them with a stark choice: Breathing or eating.

  • x
  • Casais cries as he reads messages of concern over his wellbeing. (REUTERS)
    Casais cries as he reads messages of concern over his well-being. (Reuters)

The dire situation for families and households struggling to pay their energy bills has deteriorated as a result of increased prices and Europe's energy crisis.

A new report by Reuters sheds light on the case of Jose Maria Casais' whose monthly income of $2,916 from pension and disability payments should make him better off than most Spaniards, however, he is suffering due to high power prices.

Casais, a retired engineer residing in Barcelona, said as quoted by Reuters, that he is forced to dip into his funds every month since his energy expenditures have skyrocketed due to his dependency on an oxygen machine to treat his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He has been hooked up to an oxygen concentrator for up to 24 hours a day for the past two years, according to the report. 

Casais' electricity bill has nearly tripled since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, which sparked an energy crisis in Europe due to Europe's reliance on Russian gas.

Spain's middle class has been plunged into poverty by the recession. According to an Oxfam survey, nearly 4% of Spanish households in the fourth income decile - a category traditionally seen as middle class - have spent more than half of their income on energy since prices rose last year.

Whereas before the energy crisis, nearly half of the Spanish households could save, Oxfam believes that barely three in ten can now.

The report added that Casais spends between $300 and $400 a month on electricity, which is roughly triple what he spent before the crisis, leaving little or nothing for other necessities following medical bills, which include a live-in caregiver. He has to start drawing on his money by the middle of the month, he said.

The oxygen concentrator he uses draws air through a compressor, eliminating nitrogen and filtering oxygen before delivering it to the patient. Depending on how difficult it is for Casais to breathe on any given day, he will remain linked for between 17 and 24 hours.

Not an isolated incident

Related News

CNBC unveils strategic plan to revitalize Syria energy sector with US

Syria to sign deal to import electricity from Turkey, minister says

“With this rise in electricity prices they have to decide between eating and breathing,”

 

Nicole Hass, APEPOC spokesperson said.

Casais is not an isolated case. COPD affects an estimated five million people in Spain, according to Dr. Sergi Pascual, pulmonology unit coordinator at Hospital del Mar in Barcelona.

According to the Spanish Association for Patients with COPD (APEPOC), it is the third leading cause of death worldwide, and the fourth in Spain.

Patients in other countries are also in distress. According to a survey of over 3,600 people with lung disorders conducted by the charity Asthma + Lung UK, one in every five Britons with asthma reported life-threatening attacks as they cut back on medicines, heating, and food due to the rising cost of living.

Other diseases, such as renal failure, need electricity-guzzling machinery to survive, according to two medical organizations that handle kidney illness.

Eating or breathing?

Casais stated that if he did not have his oxygen machine, he would have to be permanently hooked up to a machine in a hospital, losing his independence and costing the state more money.

According to Nicole Hass, a spokesperson for APEPOC, many electricity-dependent Spaniards face some difficult choices: "With the increase in electricity prices, families must choose between eating and breathing."

APEPOC urges Spain's municipal governments to subsidize all COPD patients' energy expenditures, regardless of income.

The report stressed that Casais has already changed his diet to save money. He now subsists on one-euro packs of processed beef and tuna tins, and is thinking about remortgaging his condo to cover his medical and energy bills.

The EU has been imposing unprecedented sanctions against Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. As a result, when the EU rejected Russian energy, citizens suddenly faced food shortages and rising energy prices, not to mention the rise in the cost of living.

  • Energy crisis
  • Spain
  • Poverty
  • Sanctions on Russia
  • high power prices
  • EU

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Army commanders tour the operations sectors of the Iraqi army Seventh Brigade, in Anbar, Iraq, Sunday, December 29, 2019 (AP)
Politics

Kataib Hezbollah warns US forces against postponing Iraq withdrawal

(@rafaelmgrossi)
Politics

Egypt urges 'Israel' to join NPT, citing regional nuclear imbalance

AP
Politics

US deal proposal allows Iran to enrich Uranium to Low-Level: Reports

screengrab
Politics

Former Biden spox. Matthew Miller says 'Israel' committed war crimes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS