A health expert has urged the Ghana government and health sector stakeholders to develop a centralised data system on people with disabilities for easy information accessibility.
“A database would provide adequate information of the different persons with disabilities, groups, geographical distribution, help develop targeted policies to address their challenges and to promote proper allocation of available resources,” said Dr Marilyn Marbell-Wilson, a Medical Director of Mission Pediatrics.
Speaking at a virtual Africa Disability Conference organised by Dislabelled Organisation in Accra, she expressed worry over the country’s inability to improve the living conditions of persons with disabilities, particularly in accessing healthcare, saying that, the country had barely made progress since it passed the Disability Act, (Act 715), in 2006.
The conference, held under the theme: “Challenging and Changing the Disability Narrative in Africa,” was aimed at soliciting experts’ views to address gaps in the disability terrain and to shed light on the great work that individuals and organizations were doing to improve the life of PwDs across Africa.
Ghana in 2006, passed the Disability Act (Act 715), to provide for the rights of disabled persons under article 29 of the 1992 Constitution, to establish a National Council on Disabled Persons to attend to the interests of disabled persons and to provide for related matters.
