"I was one step away from the National Police: they excluded me because of having diabetes" | Society
In April 2018, Pablo Núñez saw his dream of being a National Police truncated. "I stayed a step away, in the act I was excluded because of diabetes," says the 33-year-old from Seville. He had presented himself several times to the oppositions and trusted that this was the definitive one. "I started the process without a diagnosis, but in February they told me I had diabetes, and in May, after the medical review, they took me away from the process, I just had to pass the psychometric test," he complains.
Those who suffer from diabetes, celiac disease, psoriasis or are HIV carriers can not access this security body, nor can they be military, civil guards, prison officials or customs agents. At least, until now. This Friday, eThe Council of Ministers approved an agreement that will put an end to this discrimination.
The associations representing these groups, made up of some seven million people, celebrate the Government's decision, after years of struggling to end the veto. According to the reference of the Council of Ministers, the measure will apply to "all calls (official, statutory and labor, civil and military) that are convened after the date of adoption of this agreement and, in any case, from of the derivatives of the public employment offer of the year 2020 ". The affected groups explain that the applicants will have to pass the tests and the medical examination, but the doctors will decide on each case, individually, not on the basis of a generalized veto.
"It's very frustrating to see how you are going from phase to phase, there were about 50,000 people for about 3,200 places, in the medical phase we were about 3,300, my colleagues in the academy went in and I stayed out, despite all the effort I've done in this time, "laments Nunez. "I just had to pass the psychometric test," he adds. "I am an athlete. I go to the gym, I play basketball, I do athletics. I submitted a medical report in which he claimed he could be a policeman. But it did not help. You feel a lot of frustration when you see that all the effort invested to pass the tests has not been useful, "he continues.The medical cadres in whom this exclusion was established are 30 years old. It was urgent to update them, "he continues.
Núñez launched a petition on the Internet that already has more than 130,000 signatures to request an end to this "discrimination" at work. "We have managed to eliminate the widespread veto, now I want to make it retroactive and let me do the last test I had left," he says. He trusts to achieve his aspirations and be able to dedicate himself to communication within the police.
Deterrent effect
The groups of affected explain that medical cadres have a deterrent effect among many affected. Despite this exclusion, many others do try and during the process they see the possibility of pursuing their vocation truncated. Nacho Arnao also wants to be a policeman. "I've been a champion of athletics, football and judo, physically I'm fine, but I do not pass the medical examination," complains the 34-year-old Aragonese. "The doctor saw my knees and elbows with a different skin color and he knew I had psoriasis," he explains. He has claimed and, while waiting for justice to be pronounced on his case, he continues to present himself to the oppositions. Now he is doing tests. "Every time I get better marks in the tests, I'll keep trying," he says. Do not give up
Yes he did Alejandro Tribaldos, a 19-year-old from Madrid who dreams of entering the Army. "It's my dream since I was a child, the first time I showed up I did not go in. The second one, yes, I was asked about intolerances at the medical examination, I said I was a celiac," he says. "When they told me it could not be, I left crying from there, and the doctor who treated me did not treat me well at all," laments the young man. This Friday, his mother sent him a message that moved him: "We have achieved it". Now, after the announced change, it is proposed to try again.
Like Daniel Jiménez, a 30-year-old from Madrid. His life took a turn in 2014, when he was told that he was HIV positive. Before, between 2007 and 2009, it had been military. Upon receiving the diagnosis, he had six months "of madness" in which he did not want to know what was happening to him. With the medication, the concentration of virus in his body became undetectable, that is, with so few pathogens in his fluids that he could not cause an effective transmission in another person. He then began to work as a waiter in a bar located in the Plaza de Pedro Zerolo in Madrid. "When I told my boss that I had HIV, she fired me," she says.
Jiménez took the case to court and the company ended up admitting that he had been discriminated against due to illness, something that, according to various specialized associations, had not happened until then in Spain. Since then, the idea of returning to the Armed Forces has been around him. Now you can do it. "The government announcement seems like a big step for society," he exclaims.
