People with disabilities in need of food, medicines during third wave of Covid-19

18 Aug 2021

DMG Newsroom
17 August 2021, Sittwe

People with disabilities in Arakan State are facing difficulties with their livelihoods and medicines during the third wave of Covid-19, the Disabled People’s Association (DPA) in Arakan State said.

Disabled people do not have their own income and they are facing difficulties with their livelihoods, the chair of DPA U Hla Myint told DMG.

“The disabled people have to depend on their family and relatives. The families have a lot of difficulties to provide us because of Covid-19. So, we people with disabilities are living difficult lives,” U Hla Myint said.

INGOs and NGOs provided assistance for disabled people in the first and second waves of Covid-19, but organisational support like that has reportedly been absent during the ongoing third wave.

There are more than 2,000 people with disabilities who are sheltering at IDP camps due to the state’s most recent conflict, according to the Disabled People’s Association in Arakan State.

Disabled people are also facing difficulties with access to Covid-19 preventive materials, U Hla Myint said.

“Civil society organisations provide assistance to disabled people at IDP camps. But most provisions are for the whole household. Disabled people both from IDP camps and home are in need of Covid-19 prevention supplies,” he said.

Disabled people are having difficulty going to the site where Covid-19 vaccinations are being provided, and they wanted organisations to provide vaccination at their homes, people with disabilities said.

There are nearly 6 million people with disabilities in Myanmar, according to 2019 figures from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population.

There are 505,503 people with disabilities — of whom 207,012 are vision-impaired and 110,264 are hard of hearing — in Arakan State, according to the ministry’s figures.