Country facing acute shortage of devices for People with Disabilities – MOH
The country faces an acute shortage of assistive devices for the disabled adversely affecting thousands of People with Disabilities (PWDs), data from the Ministry of Health shows.
According to the ministry, less than one percent of the disabled could access assistive devices like wheelchairs, hearing aids, and crutches among others.
To address this, the government has agreed to host the regional center of excellence in Assistive Technologies (ATs) under an agreement between MOH and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The move is meant to address underlying gaps in accessing devices and appliances for people living with disabilities.
The center, which will be headquartered at Jomo Kenyatta University of Technology [JKUAT], will among other things manufacture innovative technologies, create awareness and address the shortage of health experts in the area.
According to Dr Raphael Kerio, a practicing prosthetist-orthoptist at Kenyatta National Hospital, an average of 4m Kenyans are in need of assistive devices but only 40,000 of those have access.
He said there was a huge gap in the satisfying provision of services to the disabled and Kenya had positioned itself as a destination for rehabilitative care and services in Africa.
Kerio said the move to host the center would synergize the efforts by the governments and innovators to provide tailor-made technologies for various forms of disabilities.
Dr Kerio hailed last year’s presidential directive to integrate assistive technologies in Universal Health Coverage noting that the move will allow patients access care under the National Health Insurance cover [NHIF].
On her part, Martha Mmasi, a physiotherapist from the Ministry of Health, said the center will revolutionize health care by enhancing access to affordable devices for all forms of disabilities.
Mmasi said high costs and limited access to these assistive devices, mostly by the marginalized, continue to inhibit acquisition, a gap that all players need to address.
Speaking during a health symposium on the adoption of Assistive Technologies [AT] in Naivasha, She called on counties to embrace measures, plans and infrastructures that will enhance access for the marginalized groups.
On his part, Timothee Pakou Yowou, the President of African Federation of Orthopedic Technicians [FATO] said that 15 percent of African population (210m) lives with a disability.
Yowou lauded Kenya for the numerous strides in improving access to assistive devices for people living with disabilities.
He called for enhanced collaboration among African governments to remove access barriers including financial costs, shortage of experts, lack of enough data and healthcare facilities.
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