By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Sept 16, GNA – Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has disclosed that for older Ghanaians, the Social Protection Act now affirms a legal right to free healthcare and social assistance, which was something that used to depend on charity.
She said the Government would continue to deliver welfare services to 50 elderly residents at the Central Destitute Infirmary in Bekwai, which has now been fully renovated to better meet their needs.
She said support for older persons had moved from charity to legal entitlement, backed by a dedicated Fund, with Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and the National Health Insurance Scheme as their critical delivery mechanisms.
The Minister announced that Cabinet had approved the amendment of the Persons with Disability Act of 2006 to align it with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a reform this community has waited so long for.
Dr Lartey said in practical terms, 19,760 people with disabilities had benefited from the Disability Common Fund across 208 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMMDAs).
She said they had held sensitisation on disability-inclusive disaster risk management across eleven regions.
Also, working with Ghana Education Service (GES), 272 PWD graduates were being formalised into the Ghana Education Service, creating jobs for PWDs.
Dr Lartey said working with the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, through the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project, ICT equipment had been procured for seven special schools.
She said the items include desktop computers, laptops, accessible software, Braille displays and embossers and graphic tablets.
She noted that installation was complete in three of those schools, with the remaining four underway.
Dr Lartey said for students who had never had hands-on access to this kind of technology, this was the first.
She said schools that had been resourced include Senior High Technical School for the Deaf- Mampong Akuapem, Volta School for the Deaf and Blind- Hohoe, and Dzorwulu Special Needs School – Accra.
Dr Lartey said the remaining schools to be resourced include Wa Methodist School for the Blind, Wa School for the Deaf, Bechem Technical institute for the Deaf and Basic school for the Blind, Special Needs Technical Institute – Jachie Pramso, and Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind.
GNA.
Edited by Benjamin Mensah