People with Disabilities (PWDs) have urged Enugu State Government and Council areas to tailor their mode of COVID-19information delivery to accomodate them.
This is contained in a new COVID-19 survey report on PWDs in Enugu State issued and signed by the Executive Director of Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Mr David Anyaele, on Thursday in Enugu.
The survey report with theme: “Persons with Disabilities in Enugu State: A Rapid Assessment of the Effectiveness of Government COVID-19 Communication and Palliative Distribution Strategies’’, was issued during a visual meeting.
It recommended that PWDs-focused Information, Education and Communication (IEC), strategies should be designed and strictly implemented to effectively inform members of this community on all aspects of COVID-19.
“The information should be delivered to them through Braille for the Blind; Sign Language Interpreters for the Deaf and Bold Prints for the Sighted.
“It is advisable to identify and train trainers among the PWDs and PWDs organisations as well as support them with necessary logistics to step-down training to members of their community or clusters,’’ it said.
It called for provisions for the screening of PWDs for COVID-19 so that those infected could benefit from the free treatment by government.
“There should be improvement in the palliatives distribution by the inclusion of PWDs.
“There should be improvement in the process of communicating to the beneficiaries by involving the local PWD leaders in the process. Hi
“There should be effective coverage of PWDs in the COVID-19 palliative scheme as a matter of urgency before they are compelled to resort to survival behaviours that are contrary to government efforts to control spread of the disease,’’ it futher stated. (NAN)
