Encouraging people with disabilities to demand SRH services just as vital as actually providing them, says Oladapo, Plan Foundation’s director

The Executive Director, Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation, Mr Obatunde Oladapo, says interventions targeting the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs, particularly of people living with disabilities, will remain ineffective so long as demand for these services is not prioritised in the country.

Speaking at a one-day meeting organised by the Plan Health Advocacy and Development Foundation to assist in developing a proposal on generating demand for sexual reproductive health services by women and girls, Mr. Oladapo said it was critical to include their felt needs in the planning stages of any intervention that would specifically target them.

“One can only imagine how a person with a disability feels if one is a person living with a disability. Oftentimes, we think that we know. So, it is very wrong and inappropriate to programme or design interventions for people with disabilities without putting them in the driver’s seat.

For this reason, we are doing what is known as gender-based analysis today, bringing together stakeholders such as health professionals, community and religious leaders, and men, girls, and women who are all disabled to advance a project dubbed the “embassy,” the goal of which is to guarantee that Oyo State’s women and girls with disabilities have access to sexual and reproductive health services.

“It is also about learning from them how best we can raise demand for sexual and reproductive health services by women and girls with disabilities and how we can ensure people are aware of these services and health care facilities that offer such services.

“This is very crucial because, at times, it is like preparing a sumptuous meal, and no one is coming to partake of it. There is a distinction between providing access to services and encouraging people to use them.

“Many times, donors and partners come in and provide services, including treatment and free medicines, but they don’t think about how to get the average person who needs it to know that this is available and that they should take advantage of it.”