By Asmau Ahmad
The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has assured the Federal Government’s commitment to development and support implementation of policies and programmes that would enhance total inclusion of people living with disabilities in the country.
Professor Adewole, gave the assurance at the stakeholders meeting on the review, finalisation and adoption of the National Policy framework on sexual reproductive health of women and girls with disabilities in Abuja.
Our correspondent report that the programme was jointly organised by the Disability Right Advocacy Centre (DRAC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
He explained that the review was timely, noting that the country is already in the race of SDG implementation with the international community.
The minister said that the international community has the critical burden to ensure inclusion of issues on disabilities in policies and programmes of government.
However, he said that disability issues were not sufficiently addressed by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as one of the emerging global development agenda issues.
According to him, this informed the convening of the High Level Meeting of Disability and Development (HLMDD) in Sept. 2013 by the UN General Assembly.
Represented by represented by Director, Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Wapada Balami, the minister further noted the efforts of the meeting as providing a holistic opportunity to examine disability situation of persons with disabilities in the society as well as showcase their roles as both agents and beneficiaries of development.
Earlier, Founder, DRAC, Dr. Irene Patrick-Ogbogu, identified some provisions of the policies to include educating young girls about their sexual and reproductive health.
Dr. Patrick-Ogbogu said that it captured how to seek redress by those that have experienced violence and abuse among others.
According to her, the policy is a blue print in addressing the challenges women and girls with disabilities faced in accessing healthcare with specific focus on their sexual and reproductive health.
