Plights of persons living with disabilities in accessing healthcare services in Nigeria

By Justina Auta, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
After a struggle to gain entrance into the hospital in her wheelchair, Mrs Mary Abraham, a 38-year-old pregnant woman got a rude shock when the hospital receptionist told her that the delivery room was on the fourth floor.

And to compound her plight, the receptionist told her that the hospital elevator was out of use, so she must be carried through the staircase during labour to the delivery room.

Abraham’s case was similar to that of a 16-year-old Queen Musa, an orphan and a student with hearing impairment, raped in her neighbourhood but could not communicate her ordeal to anyone until she was seen with protruding stomach.

These are just a hint on the many problems People With Disabilities (PWD) face and cannot just say it out but suffer in silence.

The 2012 global World Health Organisation (WHO) report shows that over one billion persons or approximately 15 per cent of the world’s population have some form of disability and about 110 to 190 million people 15 years and older have significant difficulties in functioning,

which it attributes to the rapid spread of chronic diseases and population ageing.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Mr Eze Duruiheoma, during the 73rd UN General Assembly Discussion of Agenda 28 on Social Development, disclosed that no fewer than 19 million Nigerians are living with disabilities.

This concern for PWDs gave rise to the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Observers say the challenges faced by PWDs in communicating effectively and accessing healthcare services has become worrisome due to poor implementation of the Disability Rights Law in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 in January 2019 following nine years advocacy by rights groups and activists.

Mr George Anwayi, the National Secretary, Amputee Coalition of Nigeria (ACON), an NGO, said poor implementation of the law contributed to the stigma, discrimination, mobility challenge and other plights faced by amputees in the country.

According to Anwayi, if government implements the disability rights law and ensures all agencies and private organisations comply by the provisions of the law, it will go a long way to enhance the lives of people with special needs.

The ACON scribe said “this is a matter of human rights. We are not some beggars, but responsible citizens, capable of making major contributions to economic development if given the chance.”

He called on government at all levels and the citizenry to “change their mentality and attitude toward people with special abilities.”

He said that PWDs should not be used to run campaigns to win public sympathy to garner support and get votes, only to be discarded like a piece of rag after election, this must stop.

Pundits, however, say social exclusion due to vulnerability of PWDs has affected their access to healthcare services, thereby contributing to their health challenges.

Some experts also say that the challenges faced by PWDs brings to the fore, the need to prioritise their sexual and reproductive health rights as they also have same needs like normal able persons.

They emphasised needs such as family planning, sex education, cancer screening, immunisation, among others, as rights that should be accorded PWDs.

This call was further heightened by Federal Government’s launch of a National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Persons with Disability in April 2019, with emphasis on women and girls.

Former Minister of Heath, Prof. Isaac Adewole said government would provide policy direction for all actors and stakeholders on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health service delivery in addition to addressing pertinent issues relating to gender and rights of persons
living with disabilities.

The call for the rights of PWDs also prompted Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to call on different arms of government to promote access to healthcare for persons with disabilities when he was Speaker of House of Representatives.

Gbajabiamila, during the 2019 International Day for PWDs, reiterated government’s commitment to focus on taking action in line with United Nations 2030 Development Agenda.

He said “of all the objectives set out in the agenda, there is none more urgent, more demanding of our commitment and effort, than that which requires us to jointly seek and achieve drastic reduction in inequality.

“To achieve equal participation, we must be intentional about promoting accessibility.

“As we promote access to education by building schools and hiring teachers, we must make sure also that those classes are accessible to wheelchair users and provide the seeing impaired with learning tools that work for them.”

With this declaration from the National Assembly, relevant stakeholders such as Civil Society Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisation, and the private sector have begun to take the lead in supporting the inclusion of persons living with disabilities in
global, regional, national and local activities.

Recently, a coalition of four women-led organisations comprising Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative (AWWDI), Faecare Foundation and Haly Hope Foundation called for an inclusive budget for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) of Women and Girls with Disabilities (WGWD) in the country.

The coalition made the call during the closing ceremony of a two-day training on “Priotizing Inclusive Budgeting for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Persons with Disability in Nigeria.

The Founder of AWWDI, Ms Patience Ogolo-Dickson, said that prioritising inclusive budgeting for sexual and reproductive health rights of PWDs would address their health challenges and eliminate all forms of discrimination against them.

Ogolo-Dickson said “the goal of the team is to ensure social inclusion, access to basic healthcare services and facilities and increased awareness about the health status of PWDs with special consideration for women and girls.’’

She decried the challenges faced by Women and Girls with Disabilities (WGWD), which include negative attitude to health, access to information, education and services on reproductive health, which forced them to seek inexperienced midwives to attend to their needs, which she said affected their health status.

Freky Andre-Essien, the Executive Director, Faecare Foundation, said full implementation of the national policy on sexual and reproductive health and rights of persons with disabilities would promote access to their reproductive health rights and services,change negative attitude of the public and health profession, raise awareness on their needs and rights.

“We call on government, CSOs, development partners, organised private sector and the media to support the call for inclusive budgeting for sexual and reproductive health rights of PWD’s,” she said.

Andre-Essien also explained that PWDs were vulnerable and often fall victims of sexual abuse and violence, and called on the government to proffer solutions that would end the menace.

On her part, the Executive Director, IFA, Ms Grace Jerry, said the need for budget would ensure social inclusion, access to basic healthcare services and facilities, as well as increased awareness about the health status of PWDs, particularly that of women and girls.

“ Our society has failed to notice that like any other person, PWDs equally have sexual reproductive health needs. However, they were seen as incapable and unfit for marriage or parenting.’’

Jerry, therefore, stressed the need for government to prioritise and ensure an inclusive budget that would facilitate the dictates of the National Policy on Reproductive Health Rights of PWDs.

“They should make deliberate efforts to ensure that inclusive budgeting is taken into account to provide access to information of sexual reproductive health and services to cover for all forms of disability.”

She explained that inclusive budgeting would enable health workers to be trained adequately for better communication with PWDs and increase access to their health needs.

However, the question that comes to mind is that Nigeria has less than one year to World Health Organisation’s 2014-2021 Action Plan on PWDs,

will it reach the target? is it achieveable in Nigeria? How prepared is government to fully implement the action plan and WHO global disability action plan

endorsed by member states in 2014 toward achieving a significant step in the health and well-being and

rights of PWDs?.

The action calls for the removal of all barriers, but improved access to health services and programes, strengthened and extended rehabilitation,
assistive device and support services and community based rehabilitation to PWDs.

There is also the need to enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, as well as research on disability and related services, which

will enable PWDs to fulfill their aspirations in all aspects of life. (NANFeatures)**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)