Disability
Introduction

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Ghana are often regarded as unproductive and incapable of contributing in a positive way to society. PWDs are unfortunately also seen as constituting an economic burden on the family and the society at large, which leaves them in a vicious cycle of poverty.

In Ghana, there are rarely strong disability movements actively working to improve the living conditions for PWDs. Disabled persons are often weakly represented in civil societies. PWDs in Ghana are subject to various forms of exclusion, discrimination, and stigmatization. A combination of culture and political economy has ensured that PWDs must contend with barriers that are not faced by the general public. PWDs are also stereotyped and relegated to the fringes of society (Disability Situation in Ghana, October 2013). This chapter analyses disability in district by type of locality, disability type and sex and by activity status.

Population with Disability

Overall, 1.3 percent of the population in the Bodi District reported one form of disability or another. In terms sex distribution, males (1.4%) with disabilities are slightly more than females (1.2%).

Type of Disability

The major type of disability in the district relates to sight with 35.1 percent, followed by physical disability with 25.7 percent. Figure 6.1 displays the various types of disability.Intellectual disability is common among both males and females with each recording 12.7 percent. Females (11.5%) are more inclined to emotional distress than males (10.2%) and this is proven by the data in Table 6.1.

Distribution by type of Locality

In the rural areas, a little more than one out of hundred persons have disabilities (1.3%) while in the urban areas; about one out of hundred persons have disabilities (1.0%). The major type of disability in both urban and rural localities is sight. However whiles proportion of the PWDs in the urban areas with sight problems are 33.3 percent that of the rural area is 35.3 percent.

Besides sight, physical disability is common in both localities (urban-rural). There are more males who either have a sight or physical disability than females in urban areas. The same trend was observed in rural areas (Table 6.2).

Disability and Activity Status

Economic activity status and sex by type of disability are reported for persons 15 years and older in Table  Whiles the percentage of PWDs to those without disability is 1.8 percent, the percentage of PWD that was employed is 1.2 percent and unemployed is 0.8 percent. This shows that there is a gap between the proportions of PWDs and non-PWDs that are economically active. Males who are disabled but are employed represent 1.3 percent of disabled male population whiles 1.1 percent of the disabled females are employed. Both males and females who are confronted with sight as a type of disability but are employed have the proportion 0.5 percent in respect of the other types of disability. There are many males (4.7%) than females (4.5%) who are economically not active.

Speech as a form of disability does not refrain people from working since the percentage representing the economically active (16.1%) is higher than those who are economically not active. Physical disability has been proven to be a challenge to persons in relation to their economic status. Persons who are physically challenged are often not economically active; 91.4 percent higher than those who are economically active (26.0%).