Women with disabilities lament discrimination, exclusion from Anambra reproductive health services
Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Women under the aegis of Association of Anambra State Women with Disabilities (AASWOWD) have expressed their frustration about their members being excluded from reproductive healthcare services in the state.
This was made known at Amawbia, during their 2024 Annual August Meeting tagged: “Ensuring an Accessible and Inclusive Reproductive Healthcare System for Women with Disabilities.”
Speaking at the meeting, AASWOWD Chairperson, Comrade Ncheta Nwanokwara, lamented that despite reproductive healthcare being a fundamental for all, women with disabilities have long been denied the basic entitlements.
“We face systematic barriers, discriminatory attitudes and lack of accessibility especially with respect to the provision of ramps, adjustable beds in some health facilities, sign language interpreters, as well as readable information materials. Because of that, many women have been excluded from quality health care and services they deserve.
“We have continued to face these barriers and discrimination, but we have also continued to make important strides in raising awareness and advocating for a more inclusive reproductive and healthcare system.”
Comrade Nwanokwara called on relevant stakeholders in the health sector in Anambra State, and advocated for increased investment, improved infrastructure, and enhanced training for healthcare providers.
She also emphasized the need to build a future where every woman, irrespective of her disability, can access the quality, dignified, and empowering reproductive healthcare she deserves.
Dr Ogo Ofieli, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, drilled the women on the different health problems that can happen generally in females including fertility issues, problems of menstrual cycle, accessible healthcare and child care.
Ofiaeli, who is the President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Anambra State Chapter, informed them that the first step to addressing the challenge of accessibility to healthcare is having unity and standing as one.
“There is no way the healthcare system will know your problems without you as a group coming to tell them the problems,” she said.
She urged them to leverage their togetherness and embark on advocacies to seek solutions to the challenges they face in the society, particularly in the healthcare sector.
Similarly, representative of Achieving Health Nigeria Initiative (AHNI), Clent Okin, during his lecture, said advocacies are very crucial to eradicating the discrimination women with disabilities experience in the healthcare system.
He urged the women to always speak out in areas where they are neglected or discriminated against, so as to attract the attention of the government and public.
Chairman Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Anambra State Chapter, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke represented by his vice, Ifeanyi Igwegbe urged the women to key into several programmes of the government, particularly the soft grants being awarded to women of the state by the federal government.
He also encouraged them to participate actively an contest in the forthcoming local government election in the state.
