Equity in Access to Water and Sanitation Services for Disabled Persons in the Kumasi Metropolis; the 4As Theory Perspective
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Date
2015-02-24
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Abstract
People living with disabilities can be found everywhere in the world. Since poverty and disability re-enforce each other, people living with disabilities are less likely to have resources to cater for their basic needs, chief amongst them being their health status to ensure their survival, than people living without disabilities. This results from the extra cost that the disabilities place on them, which may include the need to pay for assistive devices and special healthcare cost. The nature of impairments also tend to restrict certain activities that must be undertaken by disabled persons, including walking and bending, which subsequently restrict their ability to access vital water and sanitation services and facilities. In the quest of healthcare delivery agents to ensure an equitable system of health services in Ghana, in line with the ‘Health for All’ objective of the Ghana Health Service, there is the need to ensure the equitable distribution of all factors that contribute to health, key amongst them being the distribution of water and sanitation services, to all citizens of Ghana, irrespective of their socio-economic status, physical condition, religion, etc. The importance of water and sanitation in the attainment of a good health status can therefore not be overstated. This study therefore sought to find whether there is equity in access to water and sanitation services for persons living with disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional design, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of the study found that people living with disabilities have less access to water and sanitation services like good drinking water and toilets, than people living without disabilities, which affects their health negatively. The study also found that, in contradiction to other studies, people living without disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis were largely sympathetic to people with disabilities, and felt that there should be equitable access to water and sanitation services for all the people of Kumasi. The study therefore recommended the involvement of all stakeholders, including persons with disabilities in the programming and designing of water and sanitation services and facilities since there must be equity in access to such key services for all citizens of Ghana.
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A Thesis submitted to the Department of Community Health, College of Health Sciences, School of Medical Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Public Health.