COVID crisis challenges in people with
disabilities and Hansen’s Disease
By Padmini Murthy
NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2020
(IPS) — Even during the best of
times, unfortunately members
of the global community who
have special needs are marginalized
and often treated as social
outcasts. The COVID crisis
which has been raging for over
the better part of the year 2020
has posed additional barriers
and challenges for these already
disenfranchised individuals.
These people are at a higher
risk for contracting COVID -19
with reduced access to health
care services, personal protective
equipment such as masks,
basic hygiene facilities and sanitation
.Many of these people
with physical and mental disabilities
may not be able to wash
their hands not only because of
a lack of running water and soap
, inaccessibility to clean water
but because they are not able
to turn on a faucet and wash
their hands due to their physical
deformities. This is more
so when people are wheelchair
bound and are victims of Polio
and Hansen’s disease which may
leave them crippled and unable
to perform simple tasks without
assistance. In addition, people
with special needs may not be
able to social distance as they
are unable to go about their
daily activities without support
from their attendants and care
givers. This may heighten their
risk of contracting COVID especially
if their caregivers may
be asymptomatic carriers.In
response to this heightened risk
faced by this sect of the global
community , the World Health
Organization (WHO) issued
guidelines to continue integrating
people with disabilities into
the mainstream of society while
minimize their risk to contracting
COVID-19. These included
ensuring that caregivers use the
necessary personal protective
equipment (PPE) when attending
to their needs, disinfecting
any aids used and ensuring
access to essential items including
cleaning supplies.
Discrimination
In a recent survey conducted
in the United States by the
National Disability Institute in
2020 indicated that that 60%
of the disabled adult population
surveyed , report being concerned
that they may face medical
discrimination due to their
special needs and being labelled
high risk and resulting lack of
access to services during the
current COVID crisis.
According to a report released
by the United Nations in May
2020, at present globally there
are one billion people living
with disabilities and 80% live
in developing countries. As
the released UN report ‘Shared
Responsibility, Global Solidarity’
on the socio-economic impact
of the pandemic showcases,
COVID-19 is not simply a health
crisis but is shaking the core of
the foundation of global societies.
Unfortunately, the response
often linked to and is influenced
by the preexisting -social determinants
Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
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and prevailing inequalities
associated with disability
and threatens to place an additional
burden on people with
special needs.
In some countries, health
care rationing decisions, including
triage protocols and being
bypassed from receiving the
necessary medical interventions
such as ventilators, medication
and the reasons for this discrimination
can be attributed to their
being considered high risk and
assumptions being made about
the quality of life post COVID for
these people and a contributing
factor to this may be the overburdening
of the health care
systems during the crisis.
Globally the current economic
crisis resulting from COVID
has exacerbated the unemployment
rates for the people with
disability and may face challenges
finding employment post
COVID. In most countries disabled
people and their families
are vulnerable as they do not
have support from the social
protection systems prevalent in
their countries. According to a
report released by the International
Labor Organization only
28 percent of the global population
with special needs have
access to disability benefits and
even more alarming that only 1
percent of the above mentioned
in low income countries have
any kind of social support .
Challenges
Unfortunately, women
and girls with disabilities face
increased risk of gender-based
violence and especially those
affected by Hansen’s disease
as they do not have access to
social protective mechanisms
and are often destitute and
need to resort to begging for
survival. These women seldom
have access to feminine hygiene
products, contraceptive services
and are at an increased risk for
sexual harassment.
Recommendations
It is of paramount importance
that special attention is
given to those living in humanitarian
settings, including those
living in situations of forced displacement
as a result of armed
conflict in refugee or migrant
camps, informal settlements,
urban slums, mental health
facilities, old age homes and prisons
is of paramount importance
to contain outbreaks which have
the tendency to become wide
spread.
In addition, forging partnerships
between stakeholders
including advocacy bodies,
foundations NGOs, government
agencies, law and order and public
health agencies is crucial to
work together to provide the
necessary support needed. It
is vital that the needs of people
with various types of disability
, including the victims
of Hansen’s disease are included
in response operations for
the COVID-19 outbreak and are
rehabilitation so that they can
be integrated into main steam of
the societies they live in .
Padmini Murthy, MD, MPH,
MS, MPhil, CHES, FRSPH, is
a professor and director of the
Global Health Department of
Public Health at New York Medical
College. Murthy is the NGO
representative of MWIA to the
United Nations and the chair of
the Advisory Committee of The
Nation’s Health, the newspaper
of the American Public Health
Association.
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Wheelchair-bound Rene Soliz is seen next to a motorcycle, that he has adapted for wheelchair
users, before starting his work as a delivery person during the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak, in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia June 25, 2020.
REUTERS / David Mercado, File
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