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Health Ministry to address transportation woes of disabled persons

Jun 29, 2008 News

Persons living with disabilities are often stigmatised and discriminated against by operators in the transportation services arena, a situation that the local Health Ministry is bent on correcting.

This disclosure was made by Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that measures are already being streamlined to address some of the difficulties that people with disabilities face.

According to the minister, it has been observed that some operators of minibuses and taxis are guilty of stigmatising and discriminating against disabled persons.

“I am being open and blunt by saying this, but it is an open case of stigma and discrimination,” the minister asserted.

As a result, he said, he will ask the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Hydar Ally, as well as Chairperson of the National Disability Commission, Evelyn Hamilton, to meet with the operators through the Minibus Association to discuss the matter.

“I am sure that, in passing these people on the road and just leaving them there, they (the operators) do not think that they are stigmatising and discriminating.”

The minister, however, expressed uncertainty as to whether the current laws protect persons living with disabilities, which he underscored as the main reason that the ministry has accelerated its plans to pass legislation to protect those that are disabled.

And in order to cushion the transportation woes that befall some disabled persons, Minister Ramsammy revealed, the ministry will be putting measures in place for those who attend clinic regularly to access free transportation.

“In Georgetown, we will arrange one day a week to transport persons who are living in and around the city and need to go to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to visit the chronic diseases clinic.”

At the moment, the minister said, his ministry is unable to extend the service nationally, but he expressed optimism that a venture of such nature may be possible in the future.

“The problem for us is that people live in various regions, that is why we are limiting it to Georgetown,” he noted. And in order to ensure that the proposed programme is a success, Minister Ramsammy said, his ministry is working in collaboration with the National Commission on Disability and the Ministry of Human Services to formulate a register of disabled persons.

“We have to have a register…Because we do not want this service to operate like an ambulance and for everyone, even if they are certified disabled.”

The programme, he said, is strictly for persons who have been accessing the hospital and are members of the clinic at the GPHC, even as he added that it will not attract first-time visitors.

According to the minister, the venture is the first important step in making the lives of those that are disabled a little better.

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