The Director-General of the GHS, Prof. Samuel Kaba Ako­riyea, explained that the health desk would help PWDs through their healthcare processes at the hospital, thereby avoiding long queues.

He said this yesterday in Accra during a meeting with the Ghana Federation of Disability Or­ganisation and other disability organisations.

He stated that, “ I have already engaged with regional directors of health service in all regions and we have agreed that is going to be one of our priorities to make sure that happen at the headquarters level and we will have a desk and a team respon­sible for it.”

Also, the Director General indicated that the service would ensure that the PWDs were involved in health promotion activities, saying, “Because it was important they are involved and informed as they could be affect­ed by outbreaks such as cholera and meningitis.”

At the regional level, he said, persons with disability checklist would be incorporated into the annual review system of the hos­pitals to score them on the league table to be formed.

Coordinator and Trainer, Assistive Technology Lab at the University of Ghana, Alexander Bankole Williams, mentioned that impairment emanated from issues of health while living with impairment had to do with disability.

He stated that the challenges faced by persons with disability were numerous and suggested that training sessions were rolled out for doctors and nursed to be critically aware of how to handle people with disability.

He also noted that to enhance healthcare of people with disabili­ty, knowledge of individual health professionals on disability should be enhanced, adding that import­ed health equipment should be adjustable to suit the needs of persons with disability.

A Professor at the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation at the Kwame Nkrumah Univer­sity of Science and Technology (KNUST), Wisdon Kwadwo Mprah, called on authorities to patronise activities organised by PWDs, saying, “it is only when you patronise our activities that you will know our challenges,”

Prof. Mprah also advocated the employment of PWDs into the health sector.

The President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Or­ganisations, Mr Joseph Atsu Humadzi, stressed that his outfit had been advocating the total in­clusion of PWDs in all sectors of the economy and was grateful to Prof. Akoriyea for the bold step taken to address the challenges they face in the health sector.

He then called on other organ­isations and government agencies to emulate the Ghana Health service.