Government Must Increase Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Sexual, Reproductive Health Services

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EXECUTIVE Director of the Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation, Mr Obatunde Oladapo, has made a case for increased government’s focus on disability and inclusion of people with disabilities in sexual and reproductive health services.

Mr Oladapo spoke at the opening of a two-day stakeholders and consensus building meeting and orientation on the Eliminating Multiple Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services among Young Girls and Women with Disabilities in Oyo State (EMBASSY) project.

He declared that the 16 percent of the global population with disabilities is cut off from sexual and reproductive health services, despite the increasing number of people with disabilities due to ageing, conflicts, climate change, accidents, poverty and non-communicable diseases.

According to him, “many people in Nigeria hold the stereotype that persons with disabilities generally, and women with disabilities in particular, do not engage in sexual activity.

“They have even more pressing sexual and reproductive health needs compared to other women in the general population, as they experience various barriers to accessing these much-needed services and are, therefore, being denied their sexual and reproductive health rights.”

Mr Oladapo assured that the focus of the EMBASSY project, through its collaboration with the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities (OYSAPD) and the state chapters of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, including other relevant government ministries and agencies, is geared towards guaranteeing entry into the realm of better access to disability-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in the state.

Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Muideen Olatunji, confirmed that young girls and women with disabilities face enormous challenges in sexual and reproductive health and their consequences, but many programmes and interventions don’t focus on them because they are often not seen.

He, therefore, assured of the agency’s support for more inclusive, disability-friendly sexual and reproductive health services across the primary health care services in the state.

Former chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Oyo State chapter, Evangelist Olu Kayode, said it is a wrong impression to think that persons with disabilities, particularly women, don’t engage in sexual activities, let alone needing education, information on sexual and reproductive health, or knowing their HIV status.

Author, Sade Oguntola