Little has been done to provide people with disabilities with the guidance and support needed to protect them during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, even though many of them are part of the high-risk group, today warned the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas. 
 
“People with disabilities feel they have been left behind,” the UN human rights expert said. “Containment measures, such as social distancing and self-isolation, may be impossible for those who rely on the support of others to eat, dress and bath:”
 
“This support is basic for their survival, and States must take additional social protection measures to guarantee the continuity of support in a safe manner throughout the crisis.”
 
The UN expert stressed that reasonable accommodation measures are essential to enable people with disabilities to reduce contacts and the risk of contamination. They should be allowed to work from home or receive paid leave to guarantee their income security. Family members and caregivers may also require reasonable accommodation to provide support to people with disabilities during this period.
 
“Access to additional financial aid is also vital to reduce the risk of people with disabilities and their families falling into greater vulnerability or poverty,” she explained.
 
“Many people with disabilities depend on services that have been suspended and may not have enough money to stockpile food and medicine, or afford the extra cost of home deliveries.” 
 
Devandas also noted that the situation of people with disabilities in institutions, psychiatric facilities and prisons is particularly grave, given the high risk of contamination and the lack of external oversight, aggravated by the use of emergency powers for health reasons. 
 
“Restrictions should be narrowly tailored, and use the least intrusive means to protect public health” she said. “Limiting their contact with love ones leaves people with disabilities totally unprotected from any form of abuse or neglect in institutions. 
 
“States have a heightened responsibility towards this population due to the structural discrimination they experience.” 
 
The UN expert stressed that persons with disabilities deserve to be reassured that their survival is a priority and urged States to establish clear protocols for public health emergencies to ensure that, when medical resources are scarce, access to healthcare, including live-saving measures, do not discriminate against people with disabilities.
 
“To face the pandemic, it is crucial that information about how to prevent and contain the coronavirus is accessible to everyone”, she explained. 
 
“Public advice campaigns and information from national health authorities must be made available to the public in sign language and accessible means, modes and formats, including accessible digital technology, captioning, relay services, text messages, easy-to-read and plain language.”
 
“Organizations of people with disabilities should be consulted and involved in all stages of the COVID-19 response,” Devandas concluded.
 
The expert’s appeal has been endorsed by the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, Alice Cruz, and the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Information Centre in Pretoria (UNIC).

By Chris Agbo

Federal Government of NIgeria in their efforts to curtail the growing poverty rate in Nigeria put together some National Social Intervention programmes. These intervention programmes are targeted to assist the poor in the society but poorest of the poor which is the persons with disabilities are not included in the programmes.

Recently, going by President Mohammadu Buhari pronouncement that the Ministry of Humanitarian affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development should provide Palliatives to the poor using these social intervention programs as Government applied stay at home order to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
Going by this pronouncement, the persons with disabilities who apart of being the poorest of the poor, they are the most affected group by the lockdown. They have been reaching out to Honourable minister of Humanitarian affairs, Disaster management and Social development, Haijah Sadiya Farouk but the efforts have not received much attention by the Minister. In furtherance to this, one is expected to wonder why these four programs; Conditional Cash Transfer, Npower, Geep and Tradermoney have long been implementing without PWDs among the beneficiaries, which template was used for recruiting the beneficiaries to have abysmally excluded PWDs: The following questions are in the mind of PWDs and need answers from Government:

1. Why is the programmes not disability sensitive?
2. Why is it that persons with disabilities are not engage during planning and implementation of the programmes?
3. Why did the implementation of programmes contravenes section 26 of Nigerian disability Act which provide for 5% job opportunities for persons With disabilities?

Persons with disabilities expect Government to answer these questions because a government that signed NIgeria Disability bill into Law will not turn around to decline its implementation and also exclude PWDs in social intervention programmes. If government is serious about reducing poverty when for a fact, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world, they would have properly integrated persons with disabilities who are the most vulnerable among other social groups.

In the efforts to combat Coronavirus, government should as a matter of urgency revisit all the social intervention programmes and bring the PWDs on board for better impact of the programmes.

by Andrew Pulrang

The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has everyone spooked, and hopefully, taking steps to control the outbreak and prepare to get through whatever may come of it. But one group faces additional risks and consequences, as well as anxieties: people with disabilities and or chronic illnesses.

Here are five points to keep in mind about how the coronavirus outbreak affects disabled people:

1. The people most often cited as being at serious risk are largely, by some definition, people with disabilities.

While simply having a disability probably doesn’t by itself put someone at higher risk from coronavirus, many disabled people do have specific disabilities or chronic conditions that make the illness more dangerous for them.

Unfortunately, any natural anxiety disabled people might have about the COVID-19 outbreak is likely made worse every time news reports and official statements go out of their way to reassure everyone by saying “only” elderly and chronically ill people are at serious risk. It feels awful to hear people reassure each other that coronavirus isn’t that scary because it will mainly hurt and kill “high risk” people. Remember, that’s us you are talking about, and we can hear you.

At the same time, the connection between people with pre-existing medical and disability conditions could become blurred, and disabled and chronically ill people could be unfairly stigmatized. People of Asian ancestry have already experienced discrimination because of underlying prejudice and people’s vague associations between COVID-19 and China. Everyone should be on guard against any fear-based impulse to ostracize or confine people who have, for example, chronic coughs or breathing difficulties that are normal for them, and are not by themselves evidence of exposure to COVID-19.

Because of all these and other factors … both active and anticipated … people with disabilities may be experiencing a higher level of anxiety about coronavirus. And anxiety poses risks of its own.

2. It can be harder for disabled people to take prudent steps to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak.

Expert advice on preparing for an outbreak makes logical sense and should be followed as much as possible. But many disabled and chronically ill people’s past experiences with medical bureaucracy and obtaining responsive, flexible assistance makes us skeptical that we will be able to follow all of the recommended advice successfully.

For one thing, some disabled people can’t isolate themselves as thoroughly as other people, because they need regular, hands-on help from other people to do everyday self-care tasks. Also, laying in supplies of groceries can be difficult for some disabled people to do, when shopping of any kind is always extra taxing, and they rely on others for transportation. For some of us, even cleaning our homes and washing our hands frequently can be extra difficult, due to physical impairments, environmental barriers, or interrupted services.

Some people with chronic health conditions even worry that they won’t be able to get the extra supplies of medications that are being recommended to the general public. Depending on the medications, and what kind of health insurance a disabled person has, just getting regular refills in a timely manner can be a challenge, even when there isn’t a public health crisis.

3. COVID-19 coronavirus threatens not only disabled people’s health, but their independence.

Some disabled people depend on regular help and support from others to maintain their independence — that is, their ability to live in their own homes rather than in nursing homes. group homes, and other institutional settings. Outbreaks of communicable disease can disrupt these services. Aides and caregivers may become sick themselves, or the risk of catching or spreading illness may require aides and caregivers to stay home, interrupting disabled people’s services. 

It is also worth considering that especially during an outbreak, congregate care facilities are not necessarily safer for elderly and disabled people. They are the opposite of isolated. Facilities may have access to more medical resources to treat and control the illness. But a single disabled person at home, with at most one or two careful and prepared aides, may actually benefit some from their relative isolation. Medically we can’t say for sure which is the “right” setup for any particular disabled person. That means we need to keep open minds, and set aside preconceptions we may have about what health and safety look like for people with various kinds of disabilities.

We don’t know exactly how this will play out. The important thing to remember is that the risks of COVID-19 for disabled people don’t run only in one direction, or take only one form. And the greater risks may not be from actual disease, but from the disruptions in services and routines it can cause.

4. This outbreak has the potential to add new perspectives and urgency to a number of long-time disability issues.

Workplace accommodations and flexibility …

People with disabilities and chronic illnesses regularly struggle to carve out flexible work arrangements, including reasonable accommodations and telecommuting. Such measures are now being looked at in a different light by many employers, in response to a problem affecting all workers, not just those with disabilities and ongoing health conditions.

Centralized care in institutional facilities vs. decentralized home and community-based services …

As noted above, preconceived ideas about the relative health risks of centralized care and decentralized home care are being viewed now in new ways. Many disability activists have for years contended that the purported safety of nursing homes and group homes for elderly and disabled is overrated. COVID-19 highlights the fact despite the apparent advantages of more controlled, medically-supervised environments, there are also health risks involved in housing people with health vulnerabilities in hospitals and other kinds of care facilities.

Health care organization and affordability …

Health care is one of the most intensely polarized issues in politics today. While everyone seems to have strong opinions about how to organize and pay for health care, the public health consequences of America’s patchwork system have rarely been so clear. Controlling contagious disease requires immediate access to care, and a minimum of red tape and affordability barriers. When people have to weigh the possibility of huge bills resulting from taking prudent preventative steps, public health for everyone suffers.

5. You can help a lot just being aware and sensitive to the specific risks and obstacles faced by disabled people in an outbreak of contagious illness like COVID-19.

Panic is neither warranted nor helpful. But don’t minimize the risks or try to talk disabled people out of being worried. For all of the factors outlined here, and taking into consideration many disabled people’s past experiences, it’s not unreasonable for us to be concerned. We are not just worried about getting sick, but about whether support systems we rely on will “have our backs” the way they should.

Employers, teachers, health care providers, families, and friends can help by allowing disabled people as much practical and emotional leeway as possible to cope as recommended, and as they themselves may need. Now is not the time to tighten the reins, or try to impose what you think is best for disabled people.

If you live and work with a disabled person …  or if you assist, care for, or serve people with disabilities and/or chronic health conditions … take the risks to us seriously and be extra careful with your own precautions so you can remain healthy and able to help.

By Ademibolanle Ajijala (Advocate of Inclusion)

THE Pandemic called COVID-19 caused by CORONAVIRUS which is ravaging the whole world will hit the disability community hard unless and until we take necessary steps to help and save the most vulnerable group in the society.

Below are some of the challenges that will generally be faced by persons with disability:

The World Health organization (WHO) recommends “DO NOT TOUCH” as a measure to prevent contacting the highly contagious disease.
Unfortunately, “do not touch” is not for the blind or the visually impaired who must necessarily touch and be touched. The hand of the blind is their eyes, they feel their way by touching the things around.

The blind read Braille with their fingers and wearing glove will constitute a barrier to this process.

The blind and persons on crutches will of necessity, hold unto staircase hand rails for support or guide.

WHO recommends “social distancing” but this is not for persons on wheelchair. In the absence of motorized wheelchair, the physically challenged on the wheelchair must depend on the Personal Care Attendant (PCA) to push the wheelchair.

The deaf persons do not hear the announcements, radio Jingles or community alerts

Children suffering from autism, hydrocephalus and such are unable to help themselves in maintaining personal hygiene which is very crucial at this time

Recommended Measures:
In the light of the above, the following are the recommended measures to help the set of people as mentioned above:

The blind and all personal care attendants must, in addition to the frequent washing of hands, wear gloves.

The sighted guides of the blind must in addition to wearing gloves and masks, allow the blind to hold unto the guide’s shoulder and avoid holding hands or dragging with guide cane. The conventional practice of holding unto elbow is now discouraged because “WHO” advised people to cough into their elbow .

Volunteer readers are needed to bridge the reading gap for the blind. Volunteer readers must maintain a 6ft space between the reader and the blind.

The blind are also encouraged to utilize computer-based speech Applications for their reading if and when available.

The personal care attendants, in addition to wearing gloves, must wear masks, hold only unto the wheelchair and avoid touching the person on the wheelchair( or at most touch their shoulders).

Family members or close associate of the Deaf person must explain the announcements and jingles to the deaf.

Member of the public must avoid touching the deaf as a way of communicating with them but should rather maintain eye contact with the deaf while maintaining social distance.

Deaf persons and sign language interpreters are advised to limit the frequency of touching their face when communicating or interpreting messages to the Deaf.

Medias, offices and agencies should utilize the services of professional sign language interpreters to communicate public notices to the deaf.

Sign language interpreters are advised to use protective gloves.

Parents of children with autistism and hydrocephalus must maintain basic rules of hygiene for the welfare of their children/wards

Parent and care givers must ensure that Persons with Disability, especially children with special needs must feed well so as to build up their immune systems.