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General news for Sunday, November 8, 2020
Source: GNA
2020-11-08
Dr. Augustina Naami with the Rev. Father Andrews Campbell
Dr Augustina Naami, a professor at the University of Ghana, says that People with Disabilities (PwD) in Ghana need specific social intervention programs to address their specific socio-economic and psychological needs.
People with disabilities, especially those who use wheelchairs or walking aids, he said, faced a host of challenges in their daily lives that negatively impacted their physical and psychological well-being.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview about issues that affect people with mobility difficulties in their daily lives, Dr. Naami said that although Ghana was making efforts, its social intervention schemes were not specific enough.
“The roads that lead to the houses of people in wheelchairs are rough, not paved, there is mud on the road, so it is difficult for them to go out on their own and carry out their activities,” he said.
Many people with disabilities in the country are self-employed in seasonal jobs such as small businesses, shoe stores or tailors and their work is not sustainable, while several others beg in the streets for their daily bread.
Therefore, they do not generate regular income or have job benefits such as Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) or access to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and others.
Dr. Naami, who is a wheelchair user, said, in addition to the Common Fund of the District Assemblies that targets people with disabilities, “There is no other social protection program in the country that targets people with disabilities. People with disabilities”.
He stated that disability-related expenses were very high and that “most families do not pay attention to or support people with disabilities, even if they need money to support themselves.”
Some families have money but would not help their PWD due to various factors and PWD only have their wives or husbands paying attention to them, he added.
According to her, people with disabilities are psychologically affected whenever their wheelchairs were not in stable condition, and when that happened, “they cannot help in building the community and the nation.”
“They depend on people for their work and when they do it, they think they have lost their dignity, independence, freedom and power to make their own decisions,” he said.
Dr. Naami therefore called on Ghanaians to support the “1000 wheelchairs and walking aids” campaign spearheaded by the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, which aims to mobilize at least 16,000 mobility devices across the country. .
He described the initiative as an intervention that would help people with disabilities to come out of their current precarious conditions and take charge of their lives and dignity.
“The wheelchair is a necessity to help them participate in doing things that will improve their livelihoods and take care of others,” he said.
He added: “In addition to providing wheelchairs for people, Ghanaians should change their attitude towards people with disabilities and include them in decision-making and things that will help them.”
Commenting on the campaign, Dr. Otiko Afisah Djaba, Executive Director of the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, said that a floating wheelchair march was organized in which more than 300 people with mobility problems and others participated.
He said the campaign was not a one-time event, but a process that will take place until the last person, be it a child or an adult, has access to a wheelchair or walker.
“When you leave the disabled and handicapped without wheelchairs, you are not serious about building your nation,” he said.
“We don’t want to see people in Ghana crawling on their stomachs, buttocks or hands on the ground, it is not dignified.”
Dr. Djaba also commended individuals and organizations for supporting the campaign with new wheelchairs and pairs of crutches, including; some for kids with mobility issues, at launch on November 3, 2020.
She called for more support to help reach many people across the country who urgently need mobility devices to carry out their daily activities.
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