HRCM: People with disabilities need easier access to healthcare

People with disabilities need a mechanism in place which can provide them easier access to healthcare, says Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM).

In a statement issued on occasion of International Day of Disabled Persons, this Sunday, HRCM said many of the cases involving disabled persons looked into by the commission included insufficient healthcare.

HRCM said sufficient healthcare for disabled persons was lacking – especially in the atolls where they are unable to purchase their daily medication due to lack of availability.

The commission said in the statement that people with mental disabilities faced challenges in both consulting with doctors and obtaining the medicine they need.

HRCM said some of the cases involved claims of lack of sufficient protection to disabled persons from their families and the State.

The commission stressed the need for services of specialist doctors as well as medicine to be made available in the atolls.

It also said the councils needed to play a wider role in protecting the rights of disabled persons. The commission appealed to the councils to create a mechanism through which the welfare of disabled persons can be monitored on a daily basis, and to work together with relevant State institutions to solve the issues they face.

The commission also called upon the State to improve upon its efforts to increase inclusion of disabled persons as members of the society. It called upon the State to pool more resources into implementing the “leave no one behind” policy to eradicate all hurdles which stand between disabled persons and their rights.

HRCM said that the challenges to inclusion of disabled persons in the society needs to be identified, and that things needed to be organized in such a way that disabled persons are treated the same way as any other person, with the same opportunities available to them.

The International Day of Disabled Persons is observed to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Disabled Persons is “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all”.