People living with disabilities in Mombasa have accused both the national and county governments of leaving them out in the fight against Covid-19.
The majority of them are yet to be vaccinated.
In the first round of Covid-19 vaccination in Mombasa, at least 30,858 people were vaccinated while more than 17,000 have so far received the jab in the second round.
On Tuesday, Vision for the Blind Organisation CEO Hudson Karume said the government needs to prioritise them in the vaccination campaign.
“We should be in the same category with the elderly and the front-line workers because we are at high risk of contracting Covid-19,” Karume said.
He said access to information is a challenge to most of them, especially those with visual and hearing impairment. He said information is often distorted by the time it gets to them.
“Information about the vaccine is reaching most of us as rumours. Most of us do not have faith in the vaccines because of lack of proper information,” he said.
He added, “The government should set up a sensitisation exercise targeting PWD’s to demystify the myths and misconceptions many of us have received about the jab.”
The chief officer said there were also fears that many of them might have been infected without their knowledge, hence they could be spreading the infection to their colleagues and families.
At the same time, Karume said the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced most disabled people into beggars because they are unable to find formal employment or sustain themselves through business.
“We are living at the mercy of God, not knowing what tomorrow holds. The disruption of the economy has reduced us to burdens for our family members,” he said.
Karume was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an Innovation to Inclusion Workshop for people living with disabilities in Mombasa.
The Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya Coast branch is implementing the Innovation to Inclusion programme that aims to ensure that PLWD’s are equipped with the necessary skills that meet the job market.
APDK’s Coast coordinator Gladys Koech said the programme began two years ago involving several disability person organisations in the region. The aim is to build their capacity in identifying the disabled people in society and connecting them to would-be employers.
“We are also doing skills development for them and recently we trained 194 youth living with a disability on how to send emails, use Skype and typesetting techniques,” Koech said.
The CEO Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers Sam Ikwaye added that the tourism industry had been at the forefront to ensure all hotels in the region are PWD friendly making it possible for them to conveniently work and access services as guests.
“We have tried to ensure all hotels have lifts and ramps for them and some are even developing ways to ensure the visually impaired are able to access the menu and other services conveniently,” Ikwaye said.
He however noted that more still needed to be done, calling on other employers to work closely with the group and forge ways in which they can better create more employment opportunities for them through equipping them with the necessary skills required in the market.
-Edited by SKanyara