Dr. Ruth Owusu-Antwi, Head of Psychiatric Unit, KATH, has called for specific measures to be put in place for Persons Living With Disabilities (PWD) in this fight against COVID-19.
Speaking in an interview, she disclosed that, these persons since the beginning of the pandemic have been neglected and much attention and provision has not been given to them, a situation she described as worrying.
“I think that, many people have not thought about persons living with disability. As a nation, we have not taken very good care of the vulnerable.
“We have put in all the measures like wash your hands, observe social distancing, wear your facemask and all that. What if they don’t even have the two hands to do that?”
Dr Owusu-Antwi, also noted that, persons living with disability will also need assistance moving from place to place, unlike someone who is physically fit, and as a result, they will need assistance in adhering to all these safety protocols.
“How do they observe social distancing?, how do they move from one place to the other? And so, most of the preventive protocols may not be fully applicable when it comes to persons living with disability. And so, what else do we have for them?”
She further called for separate safety protocols to be drawn tailored specifically towards these persons in order to help them not to be infected by the virus as well as help them observe the outlined protocols.
Touching on supporting the persons with disabilities, she averred that, the person going to take care of the disabled person must be psychologically well, physically and economically strong as well. She then urged citizens to think about people living with disabilities by providing for them and taking care of them in the best possible way they can.
“Each one of you can collectively do these things and then we would be solving a greater problem even as individuals.”
She further lamented that, the mere provision of their daily food has become a difficulty for them since they have no source of income and job to depend on and as a result are struggling to make ends meet.
Speaking on another challenge, which is education, she indicated that it has also become impossible for the people living with disability to participate since they do not have the adequate provision to partake and no special provision has been made for them as well and also those with children have also not been able to make provisions for their wards.
“Because their parents are disabled, it invariably trickles down to their dependants. To think that school has reopened and my parents will not even be able to send me back to school or don’t have the need to let me join virtually to participate will leave the children psychologically traumatized and will even in turn affect their academic performance.”
She then called for aid to be provided for such families who do not have the financial capabilities to support their children in school. measures
