Disability

Introduction

In Ghana persons with disabilities (PWDs) in general are marginalized and suffer discrimination on account of their disability status. They are mostly regarded as less productive and not capable of contributing to development compared to those without disabilities. For instance, they are often seen as a burden on society and their unfortunate circumstances are viewed sometimes as a curse or punishment. Furthermore, they have poorer health status, lower educational achievements, less economic participation and higher levels of poverty than people without disabilities (World Health Organization, 2011).

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) 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). As a result, PWDs face a wide range of life challenges because disability, in whatever form or type, can reduce an individual’s ability to function to his/her full potential. Disability can limit an individual’s full participation in a number of activities in life.

Estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that there are more than 600 million PWDs in the world, of which approximately 80 percent live in low-income countries (Ayiku, 2012). In the 2010 Population and Housing Census, disability was analysed in the following areas; population with disability, type of disability, distribution by type of locality and disability and activity status. Also, the types of disability that were considered were sight, hearing, speech, physical, intellectual and emotional disability.

Population with Disability

Table 6.1 shows that out of the 92,152 people in the district, 1.4 percent is with disability of all kinds. Sight disability is the highest by proportion among the population with 37.0 percent, followed by physical disability with 32.8 percent and the lowest is emotional disability with 14.9 percent.

There is a slight difference by sex with the proportion of males (1.5%) with disability being slightly higher compared with that among the females (1.3%). About thirty-eight percent of all males with disability suffer from disability of sight as against 36.0 percent of the females who have disability of sight. The proportion of females (34.5%) with physical disability is, however, higher than that of the males (31.4%).

Of the urban population of 38,113, only 1.4 percent suffers from disability of one kind or another while the rest (98.6%) are without any disability. Again, in the urban localities, sight disability is the highest (39.0%) among all persons with disability and the lowest (15.6%) being hearing disability. Table 6.1 further shows that apart from physical disability where the proportion of males is higher (37.0%) than that of females (34.9%), for the rest of disabilities, there are more males than females.

Among the rural folks, only 1.4 percent reported any kind of disability. Apart from sight disability where the proportion of males is higher (38.5%) than that of females (31.7%), the 40 proportions for females are higher among persons suffering from the remaining types of disability.

Type of Disability

In 2010 PHC, types of disability considered were sight, hearing, and speech, physical, intellectual, emotional and other forms of disability. Total number of persons with disability in the district is 1,285 out of the total population of 92,152.

Table 6.1 shows that sight (37.0%) is the commonest type of disability among PWDs in the district, followed by physical disability (32.8%), speech (16.6%), emotional (14.9%), intellectual (14.6%) and the least being hearing disability (13.5%). Other forms of disabilities constitute 9.6 percent.

Distribution by Type of Locality

The Amenfi West Municipal is made up of urban and rural localities. Disabilities in the district show very little differences between the urban and rural localities. Table 6.1 shows that persons with sight disability are dominant among the various types of disabilities in both urban (39.0%) and rural (35.6%) localities. Persons with physical disability are second: 35.2 percent for urban and 27.8 percent for rural localities. In both cases, the proportion of those in urban areas is slightly higher than the proportion reported among rural dwellers.

The proportion of persons with other types of disabilities is, however, higher for the rural localities compared to that of the urban. The distribution of the various types of disabilities is as follows: hearing (rural: 15.6%; urban: 10.5%), speech (rural: 17.4%; urban: 15.4%), intellectual (rural: 18.4%; urban: 9.5%); emotional (rural: 17.4%; urban: 11.4%). Those with other forms of disabilities recorded 11.1 percent in the rural compared to 7.5 percent for the urban localities.

Disability and Economic Activity Status

Table 6.2 describes persons 15 years and older with disability by economic activity status and sex. Out of the total of 1,033 persons with disability, 58.4 percent are employed, 1.1 percent is unemployed and 40.6 percent is economically not active. Persons with hearing disability have the highest proportion (65.2%) that is employed, followed by speech (60.4%) and sight (58.2%) with the proportion of those with physical disability that is employed being the least (47.1%). Among all the disability types, the proportion unemployed is less than 3.0percent. 42

Among the 560 males with disabilities, 64.6 percent are employed, 1.4 percent unemployed and the remaining 33.9% is economically not active. The proportion of males with hearing disabilities that is employed (72.4%) is the highest, followed by speech (69.4%) and sight (64.1%). With respect to the female population with disability, 51.0 percent are employed, 0.6 percent is unemployed and 48.4 percent is economically not active. The proportion of males with hearing disabilities employed (72.4%) is higher compared with their female counterparts (57.5%).

Disability, Educational Level and Literacy

Table 6.3 shows the educational status of people with disability in the district. 43.6 percent of those with any form of disability have never been to school, 43.3 percent are in basic school and 8.7 percent are in second cycle school.