Agency
A non-governmental organisation, Women with Disability Integrity and Development Initiative in Bauchi State, has urged the Federal Government to address the plight of children with disabilities in the country, especially in the education and healthcare sectors.
The Executive Director of the group, Hajiya Asmau Yahaya, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Bauchi.
She also urged the Federal Government and state governments to consider putting more effort into giving equal rights to education and healthcare services to children with disabilities.
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2018, about 29 million of the 195 million people who comprise Nigeria’s national population were living with a disability.
Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey revealed that an estimated seven of household members above the age of five (as well as nine percent of those 60 or older) experience some level of difficulty in at least one functional domain—seeing, hearing, communication, cognition, walking, or self-care.
Experts say persons with disabilities are more likely to experience extreme poverty in Nigeria than those without a disability.
Yahaya said, “A large number of children are living with disabilities; they are the most marginalised and excluded group of children.
“They are often overlooked in humanitarian action due to limited resources, and most of them do not go to school.”
Yahaya added that even when children with disabilities are enrolled in school, they are often excluded from learning as the curriculum is not adapted to their needs.
She explained that “the teachers do not have the training or time to provide individualized support and learning assistance to such a category of children.”
The executive director stressed that access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, but children with disabilities generally experience greater barriers in accessing healthcare services than the general population.
She said “Understanding health facility access for people with disabilities is particularly important as such knowledge can inform policies, clinical practice, and government plans.’’
Yahaya, however, urged the government to identify inaccessible school buildings and facilities such as toilets as the main reason why children with disabilities are not enrolled in primary schools.
She called on the government to build new special schools or renovate existing ones to make them accessible to children with disabilities.
She said the government should also address the attitudinal barrier children with disabilities face and develop communication strategies on awareness and sensitisation of parents, education stakeholders, and communities about the value of educating children with disabilities.
She also advocated policies that would lead to equitable access to healthcare and the need to provide in-service training to healthcare providers on how to enhance communication skills with persons with disabilities.
(NAN)
The post Address plight of children with disabilities, group tells FG appeared first on Healthwise.
