The Challenges towards Access to Health Services for Persons with Disabilities in Kenya. Presentation by: Fredrick Ouko,Executive Director

 Action Network for the Disabled (ANDY) is a registered Non-Governmental Organization working with and for young disabled people in Kenya. Our Vision is a barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disability.  Our Mission is to advance and advocate for equal opportunities for youth with disabilities through promoting proactive social and economic participation.

Disability Disability can be defined as a physical, sensory, mental or other impairments, including any visual, hearing, learning, or physical incapability, which impacts adversely on social, economic or environmental participation of an individual (Disability Act 2003) It results from interactions between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. A person with disability therefore include those have long term physical, mental intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

Right to Health Health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights. Every human being is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity. This right is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, as contained in the International Bill of Rights, including the rights to food,housing,work,education,human dignity,life,non- discrimination,equality,the prohibition against torture,privacy,access to information, and freedoms of association, assembly and movement. These and other rights and freedoms address integral components of the right to health.

The Current Scenario.. Even though it is a right for person with disability to access health services in the country, there are numerous challenges that can be categorized as follows:  Availability; There is a general challenge in terms of health facilities capable of servicing the health needs of persons with disability in the country. This includes the availability of skilled personnel (doctors, nurses) with an in-depth knowledge in disability issues.Sanitational facilities, essential drugs required by persons with disabilities when they need them.  Accessibility; Health facilities and services in Kenya are still discriminatory to persons with disabilities. Majority of those who seek health services report different forms of discrimination by the health personnel either through derogative references, lack of attention, frowning faces (who did this to you?)

It is still difficult to access health and life insurance in Kenya if you have any form of disability and if you do, the premiums will be high.  In terms of physical accessibility, many disabled people are unable to access health facilities due to the nature of the buildings especially those on wheelchairs (where there is no lifts or ramps). These facilities are also located far away and with mobility challenges, it almost becomes unreachable to this population. In some instances, the maternity beds are raised beyond the reach of women with disabilities.  Majority of persons with disability come from poor backgrounds, it is therefore a daunting challenge for them to access proper medical care due to the high costs associated with it and thus many end up being left out.

In terms of how health information reaches persons with disabilities, there is an overall communication challenge especially between the health service providers with the persons who are deaf or blind. Health facilities do not have provisions for sign language interpreters or Braille for the blind to access information. This also affects medicine prescriptions and also medicines are not brailed for the blind to read the directions forcing them to rely on others. Acceptability; It increasingly becomes a challenging task for persons with disability to accept the services being received at health facilities due to privacy and confidentiality issues. For instance, where a doctor needs to have a discussion with a deaf person; it will still require him/her to bring in a sign language interpreter thus breaching the confidentiality requirement between a doctor and his/her patient.

Contact us for more information: Action Network for the Disabled P.O. Box , Nairobi Kenya Tel: