Disability

Persons with disabilities (PWD) have been defined as those who are unable to or are restricted in the performance of specific tasks/activities due to loss of function of some part of the body as a result of impairment or malformation (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012). PWDs face a wide range of life challenges that limit them from performing to their full potential. Disability can limit an individual’s full participation in a number of activities in life.

This section discusses the status of PWDs in the  Amenfi East in terms of type of disability by type of locality, activity status, and education and literacy.

Population with disability

Table 6.1 shows that there are 3,711 persons with some form of disability, representing 4.4 percent of the district population. The data also show that 4.5 percent of females and 4.4 percent of males are with some form of disability.

Type of Disability

Table 6.1 shows that, among the population with some form of disability (3,711), visual or sight impairment (44.1%) is the most common disability, followed by emotional disability (21.8%), physical challenges (20.2%) and hearing impairment (14.6%). Speech impairment (10.5%) and intellectual disability (7.6%) follow in proportion of population with disability. The population with more than one form of disabilities constitutes 7.0 percent.

The table further shows that in terms of sight, speech and intellect disabilities, the proportion of males is higher than the proportion of females. On the other hand there are higher proportions of females with hearing, physical and emotional disabilities compared to males.

Disability by locality

Table 6.2 further shows that 5.7 percent of the urban population and 4.3 percent of the rural population have some form of disability. Also, a higher proportion of males (5.9%) than females (5,6%) in the urban localities have some form of disability while a lesser proportion of males (4.3%) than females (4.4%) in the rural localities have some form of disability.

Disability and Economic Activity

Table 6.3 shows that, for the economically active PWDs 15 years and older in the district, 67.1 percent are employed and 2.0 percent are unemployed. About 31 percent (30.9%) of PWDs in the district are however, economically not active. For PWDs in the district those with hearing difficulty have a higher proportion of employment (3.3%), followed by those with speech difficulty (2.8%) and intellectual difficulty (2.5%). Most PWDs who are economically not active have intellectual difficulty (50.7%) followed by those with physical (44.0%) challenge and speech problems (40.9%).

The data further shows that there are more male PWDs (1,506) than female PWDs in the district (1,486). The proportion of male PWDs who are employed (72.0%) however, is higher than the proportion of females PWDs who are employed (62.1%). The data also shows that a higher proportion of, female PWDs (35.5%) are not economically active compared to their male counterparts (26.4%).

Disability, Education and literacy

The disability population for persons 3 years and older is 3,605. This constitutes 4.8 percent of the total population of the district. For this population, 36.7 percent have never been to school, 3.8 percent have pre-school (Nursery and Kindergarten) as the highest level of education, 53.1 percent attained basic education and 6.5 percent attained either secondary or senior high school or higher.

In terms of the sexes, a higher proportion of female PWDs (46.4 %) have never been to school compared to male PWDs (27.4%). On the other hand there are higher proportions of male PWDs than female PWDs at the pre-primary (4.1%, 3.4%), basic (59.6%, 46.3%) and secondary/SHS and higher (8.9%, 3.9%) levels of education respectively.