After Priyantha was identified as a close contact of a recent Covid cluster he was sent to a quarantine centre in Polonnaruwa. At the end of the 14th day a ceremony was held at the quarantine centre where they were awarded a certificate to state that they had completed the mandatory quarantine period.
They were instructed by military and health officers on health guidelines to be followed during home quarantine. Unfortunately, Priyantha a person with hearing and speaking disability understood none. As everyone was wearing masks he could not even lip-read. Although he needed to know about what was being discussed at the ceremony, no one in the quarantine centre could converse in sign language.
As per the global outlook, Covid-19 is expected to loom around for another two or three years despite the invention of a vaccine. This paves the way to the so-called, ‘new normal’ where everyone has to adhere to the guidelines introduced by the health authorities.
While adapting to the new normal is a challenge for many, the challenge is far greater for those with disabilities, the Sunday Observer learnt following a discussion held with some of the frontline members who continuously struggled to secure the rights of the people with disabilities. Disability Organisations Joint Front (DOJF) facilitated the virtual meeting.
The story of Priyantha was a good example shared during the discussion. Anil Jayawardhena, Vice President of DOJF shared particular difficulties faced by people with hearing impairment during the pandemic. Even though several television channels broadcast news in sign language simultaneous to their main news bulletins in the night, access to information is a major challenge for this community.
“If the government has decided to impose quarantine curfew or has taken vital decisions we have to wait till it is televised in the night to know what they are. There is no mechanism for us to receive any news during the day,” Jayawardhena, who himself is a person with hearing impairment said.
The situation is worse in families where both husband and wife have a hearing impairment. Information received by DOJF during the past few months has proven that such families have faced many difficulties in accessing the support system enabled by the government due to the pandemic. According to statistics, there are around 400,000 people with hearing disabilities in Sri Lanka.
Vice President of DOJF and Executive Director of Ape Lamai, an organisation looking into the welfare of children with intellectual disabilities, D.M. Thilakarathna also shared his views during the discussion.
“During the pandemic, the flow of information and health guidelines is key to prevent the virus. But unfortunately, people with intellectual disabilities cannot understand the ongoing situation. They are not aware of a pandemic and cannot even think about the need of wearing face masks and washing hands frequently” Thilakarathna said.
This situation has compelled the caregivers and family members to isolate them, despite the possibility of increasing the mental burden for persons with intellectual disabilities.
“We were gaining good ground for most of the problems faced by persons with intellectual disabilities. The pandemic has not just stopped our progress, but reversed the long journey towards progress” Thilakarathna added. As he further explained, their campaign to secure the rights of the people with disabilities now focuses on charity.
Sri Lanka is yet to provide facilities for people with physical disabilities to access public places. Sri Lanka has a Parliamentary Act passed in 2006 and amended in 2009, (The `Disabled Persons (Accessibility) Regulations) providing access to various parts or areas of public buildings, public places and places where common services are available. In April 2019, Dr. Ajith C.S. Perera, a frontrunner in the campaign won his second battle against the state, where the Apex Court reinstated the need to set up disability access in public buildings. However, justice is yet to be met.
“We as a community need the assistance of others in most of our day to day activities. But now having a pandemic around us, nobody wants to come near us and help. It is a big challenge,” Vice President of DOJF, Subhani Udeshika said.
She added, “Even though accessibility for those with disabilities is mandatory in state buildings, we see it more amongst private buildings”.
During the pandemic, people with visual impairment encountered many issues especially since most of the activities are in digital form. A committee member of DOJF and a person with visual impairment P.D. Nihal told the Sunday Observer that rights of the blind, have been compromised due to the Covid outbreak.
“We consider the ‘International White Cane Day’ as an opportunity for us to draw public attention to secure the rights of people with visual impairment. However, we could not organise events due to the prevailing situation. Therefore, we feel that our rights are endangered with the emergence of the pandemic”, he said.
DOJF, an umbrella organisation representing 30 bodies aims to secure the rights of persons with disabilities. It acts as a united front to lobby and advocate the rights of the underprivileged community.
“In a global crisis such as this, the vulnerability of persons with disabilities is high,” Program Manager at DOJF Nalinda Nagolla said.
According to government statistics there around 1.8 million persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka, which is almost one-tenth of the population. In the wake of issues reported daily, DOJF opened a ‘Covid Emergency Centre’ to compile information on difficulties faced by persons with disabilities due to Covid and to provide solutions.
“Most of them had difficulties in accessing medicine. The quarantine curfew affected them badly, as they had minimum or no supply of drugs” Nagolla explained.
Besides, many persons with disabilities were engaged in income generation activities. The Covid disrupted livelihood as most of them had temporary jobs. Nagolla urges the government to implement the United Nations Charter for Persons with Disabilities in Sri Lanka which will ease the problems of those with disabilities.
“Those with disabilities deserve equal opportunities like others,” he said.