The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities has trained 182 staff of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency in disability Act and penalties for discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The training, which was held in Abuja and themed: ‘Creating awareness around the National Disability Act: Building the capacity of line Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) staffers’ trained the personnel of NPHCDA in the sections, provisions and penalties of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act 2018, CSOMedia reports.
The Executive Director of CCD, David Anyaele, said training and building the capacity of relevant health stakeholders in the contents of the law had become important
Speaking at the training, Anyaele, who was represented by CCD Lead Researcher, Humphrey Ukeaja, said the lack of the provisions of the law posed a major challenge in the health sector.
“Based on the findings from our 2021 assessment of access to COVID-19 vaccines for PWDs, we discovered the challenges faced by social and health policy makers include, but not limited to, lack of sufficient knowledge and scanty data of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
“Also poor knowledge on the rights, needs and other issues of critical concerns to PWDs especially with regards to the national disability Act.
“We can attribute this to poor engagement by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) responsible for creating awareness and sensitising the public on the national disability law and its provisions.
“We believe this training and capacity building will help to support planning.
“It will also guide health service providers on their roles in providing and implementing proper health polices with reference to the law and for benefits of PWDs,” he said.
According to CSOMedia, the CCD program officer, Peace Ezekiel, lauded the role and contributions of the NPHCDA to the health sector, saying they enhance healthcare for PWDs.
Recommending a collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to build the capacity of managers, administrators and field health workers on ways to enhance compliance to the disability Act, Ezekiel appealed to the NPHCDA to set an example for other health agencies by providing PWDs friendly assistive devices to aid access to the NPHCDA head office, CSOMedia reports.
The Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, applauded the initiative, appealing to the group to increase publicity of the successes of the MDAs in compliance to the law since its inception.
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