By Clement A. Oloyede, Daily trust
A coalition of organisations led by women with disabilities has said that women and girls with disability have poorer health and less opportunities for access to health facilities, and for sexual and reproductive participation. It called on government to adopt an enhanced budgetary system to enable them to access medical facilities in Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs). The coalition comprise of Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative (AWWDI), Faecare Foundation and Haly Hope Foundation, While addressing the media on behalf of the coalition, Patience Ogolo-Dickson, founder of AWWDI, 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 said poor access to maternal health services for disabled women forced them to seek inexperienced midwives thereby affecting their health status.
She stressed the need for a budget that would ensure access to medical facilities in PHCs with sign language interpreters, and training packages for health workers to provide reproductive and sexual health services to women and girls with disability. Freky Andre-Essien, the Executive Director, Faecare Foundation, called for full implementation of the national policy on sexual and reproductive health and rights of persons with disabilities.