Physically Challenge Persons Pour Out Frustrations

Physically Challenge Persons in the Upper East Region at the weekend poured out their frustrations at an engagement meeting between them and duty bearers in Bolgatanga. Their grievances include their inability to access proper healthcare as health professionals find it difficult to communicate with some of them especially the dumb when it comes to administering medical care. They therefore called on Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service to infuse into their education curriculum the sign language to enable health professionals to communicate with persons with disabilities especially the dumb and also impress upon health personnel to handle them like other patients. They also noted that most of the infrastructure in the Region are unfriendly to them particularly some of educational and health institutions including St Clement and St Charles Junior High Schools in the Municipality as wells as roads and traffic lights. Pastor Thomas Ayine, a physically challenged person asked Parliament to pass the Disability Act into law to help reduce some of the frustrations they go through. Mr Ahmed, Project Manager of Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment Ghana , a non-governmental organisation said the purpose of the engagement meeting is to provide a platform and voice for People With Disability (PWD) to interact and demand accountability from duty bearers on the progress they have made or the commitment they have towards implementing the provisions of the PWD Act, the three per cent District Assembly Common Fund Guidelines and the UN Conventions on the Rights of PWDs. �As part of this project, an accessibility audit of public structures, schools and sporting facilities were conducted in the Bawku and Bolga Municipality, with a very sad and disturbing revelation. 95 per cent of the structures are not disability friendly. �We are very grateful to the German Centre for International Cooperation and the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development for supporting this project and we urge the media � to take this fight for inclusive development further, especially now that our politicians have their ears on the ground,� he said.