Persons with Disabilities Constrained Access to Information to Obtain Vaccines

 The government will accelerate the vaccination program for people with disabilities by providing the Sinopharm vaccine which is a grant from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The target is that as many as 225,000 people with disabilities receive the vaccine by October 2021.

The Director of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Cut Putri Arianie, said that people with disabilities are a vulnerable group that is a priority for vaccination. Vaccination for people with disabilities has been started since April, but a special disability program has been running since July this year.

"Currently there is a Sinopharm vaccine grant from the UAE to President Jokowi as many as 500 thousand doses which will be given to 225,000 people with disabilities in Java-Bali, because in this area the corona cases are still massive," said Arianie in the Katadata Forum Virtual Series, Friday ( 20/8).

Arianie continued, the obstacle to vaccination for people with disabilities is the flow of information delivery. For this reason, he hopes that assistants for people with disabilities can provide information about special vaccines for people with disabilities.

One of the founders of Handai Tuli, Surya Sahetapy, said that the barriers for persons with disabilities are access to information and communication. "The obstacle in fighting for access to vaccines in a situation like this is because we need to use sign language which slows us down," said Surya.

Surya hopes that the government will continue to provide socialization and education related to the vaccination program for people with disabilities.

He also highlighted the accessibility of vaccines for people with disabilities in remote areas. "The distribution of vaccinations for people with disabilities is important, such as to areas that have not had access to vaccinations," said Surya.

In an effort to speed up vaccination for people with disabilities, Arianie asked local governments to be active and responsive in responding to calls from the central government. "Local governments should play a role in vaccinating friends with disabilities in the region," said Arianie.

Arianie also said that in the future, the government will require every health facility to be disability-friendly. One of them is by facilitating the use of sign language for persons with disabilities who want to seek treatment. 

Source: Katadata