International Day of Persons without Disability

Lawyer Felix Ntoso

Last Friday, the 3rd of December 2021, the world observed the International Day of Persons with disabilities. The theme of the day was ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world’. The annual observation of International Day of Persons with disabilities was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilizing support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disability and to draw attention of the international community for gains to be made from integrating persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. According to the World Health Organization, more than one billion or approximately 15% of the world’s population live with one form of disability or the other. Developing countries alone account for 80% of the figure. The global figure of 15% is expected to rise due, in part, to population aging and an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. In Ghana, data available indicate that about five million people of the country’s population have a form of disability or the other. Despite this, mechanisms that were put in place to respond to the health priorities and requirements of persons with disabilities in the country during Covid-19 pandemic were inadequate.

The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us with the emergence of a new variant, the omicron variant. It is therefore imperative and essential that going forward, disability inclusion is made central to health system planning, development and decision making to ensure a strong, effective health systems support and a robust health emergencies management.

Our Health Care providers must ensure that the peculiar needs of persons with disabilities are catered for in the fight against COVID-19. This can be achieved by ensuring that designated health facilities for administering of COVID-19 vaccines are accessible to persons with disabilities. The designs of veronica buckets and all modern forms of hand washing and auto sanitizer dispensing devices as well as their location and positioning should give access to persons with disabilities. In addition, Health Care providers should avoid discrimination and other attitudes that manifestly post as a disincentive to persons with disabilities from seeking support in this era.

As Ghana joins the rest of the international community to observe the day, the government is urged to continue to work to identify and remove all other unidentified barriers that exist between persons with disabilities. Also, conscious effort should be made to increase the opportunities available to persons living with disabilities in Ghana towards the full realization of their potentials.

COVID-19 has negatively impacted all aspects of our national life and without doubt deepened the already existing gap in the country. The post COVID-19 pandemic era health planning in Ghana therefore should include persons with disabilities in decision making at leadership level to ensure sustainability. Again, access to decision making at leadership level should transcend all facets of our national life to bridge the existing gap and ensure sustainability.