KNUST CAMPRIDE BUSES NOT DISABILITY FRIENDLY

It is a nice initiative by the Vice Chancellor of KNUST to introduce shuttle buses to convey students from the lecture block to their various halls of residences on campus. These help to ease pressure on the students who mostly trek from the lecture block to their halls of residences to and fro.
The University authority failed on their part to consider the minority group on campus thus “The Persons with Disabilities” when procuring these buses. The university have a department for Disability Studies under School of Medical Sciences and even have persons with disabilities taking courses at the Undergraduate level. Irrespective of their small number on campus the university authorities have no mandate to ignore their needs.
Under the Persons with Disability Act 2006, Act 715 section 23 states that:

Integration of needs of persons with disability
23. The Ministries responsible for rail, air, and road transport and where
appropriate the Ministry of Local Government shall ensure that the needs of
persons with disability are taken into account in the design, construction and
operation of the transportation network.

In this regard the Department of Community Health should have been consulted if the University really cares about Persons with Disabilities on campus.

We are hereby pleading with the University authorities to make the rest of the buses yet to arrive Disability Friendly and Accessible. 

Fig. 1 One of the new buses which are not disability accessible 

Fig. 2 The bus must have a ramp to aid PWDs 

Fig. 3  A ramp embedded bus for easy accessibility by PWDs 

We are not getting access to public facilities,transport,etc.

Accessibility to public transport system and facilities in Ghana by persons with disabilities (PWDs) are much to be desired with. The Disability Act 715 was enacted in 2006 with a moratorium for 10 years to make sure all public facilities become accessibility friendly to all PWDs but it has never been done.

The Ministry for Gender and Social Welfare which is responsible for Persons with Disabilities are not accessibility friendly, The Parliament house which houses the legislative body of the country is not disability friendly so how will they make sure the Disability Act 715 is adhered to?

The unfortunate incident that prevented Miss Rita Kriba from boarding the AWA over the weekend stems from inadequate public education by the airline.

The following are the conditions outlined on their website:

7.2    Special Assistance
7.2.1    Disability
7.2.1.1    Acceptance for carriage of incapacitated persons, persons with illness or other people requiring special assistance is subject to prior arrangement with us. Further details can be found in the rules and regulations which are posted on our website or are available on request. Passengers with disabilities who have advised us of any special requirements they may have at the time of ticketing, and been accepted by us, shall not subsequently be refused carriage on the basis of such disability or special requirements.

7.2.1.2    Wheelchairs will be provided without charge. The number of wheelchair passengers may be limited from time to time. For further details, see the rules and regulations which are posted on our website or are available on request.

For the avoidance of doubt, Africa World Airlines will ensure that customers with disabilities are treated with equal rights and duty of care as all passengers and that enjoy their flight with us. We provide assistance to customers with questions regarding the process of reservations, checking-in, emplaning and deplaning, in-flight and upon reaching their destination.

Information can be found by calling our representatives at our ticket offices or at the airport.
If a passenger purchases a ticket from an external source and fails to inform the airline about their condition we will endeavour to do all we can to assist at the airport within our guidelines and policies. We will ensure provision of the following:

7.2.1.2.1    Transport of persons with disabilities (termed PWD) or persons with reduced mobility (termed PRM) of any kind unless there is a specific safety-related regulation that requires us not to do so.

7.2.1.2.2    Transport of Wheelchair customers specifically passengers who are able to ascend/descend the aircraft steps and make their own way to the cabin seat but cannot walk long distances. THIS IS CODED WHCR PASSENGERS.

7.2.1.2.3    Transport of wheelchairs and other assistance devices for personal use at no charge. We also offer enplaning, deplaning and changing flights. Attention should be brought to our representatives of the persons’ condition upon ticket purchase.

7.2.1.2.4    If the passenger has not given prior notice to the airline the airline will still endeavour to ensure that all possible arrangements are made to assist the passenger.
7.2.1.2.5    Pre-boarding to allocate a suitable seat. Customers with disabilities are NOT allowed to sit at the emergency exit rows.

7.2.1.2.6    Receipt of checked wheelchair or other assistance device upon disembarking or at baggage claim.

7.2.1.2.7    Emplaning and Deplaning of passenger: While we go to great lengths to properly train all our staff, we must be available to help people with disabilities board and exit the plane. However, at this stage our staff are not permitted to hand-carry passengers on and off aircraft, i.e., to directly pick up a passenger’s body in the arms of airline personnel.

7.2.1.2.8    AWA is not equipped to transport medical oxygen or other hazardous materials and/or contained gas either in the passenger cabin or as cargo or baggage.

7.2.1.2.9    AWA is not insured, permitted or equipped to hand carry any passenger that is unable to assist themselves on board an AWA aircraft, even if they are able to walk but need a trained and accredited bearer.  THIS IS CODED WCHC OR WCHS passenger

7.2.1.2.10     AWA personnel are not insured, permitted or equipped with an ON BOARD WHEELCHAIR to be used to take passengers with disabilities to the lavatory.

7.2.1.2.11     Due to the size and category of our EMBRAER 145 J aircraft we are not permitted to carry MOTORIZED WHEELCHAIRS with dry or wet-cell batteries.

7.2.1.2.12     AWA is not equipped to transport customers who require stretchers, incubators, respirators, or other devices that may rely on aircraft power supply.

From their own regulations Miss Kriba shouldn’t have been refused access into the aircraft and this is a discrimination towards her by the staff of the airline. Discriminating against any Person with Disability is unacceptable and must be condemned. 

Persons with Disabilities deserve equal opportunities as none persons with disabilities. 

Public awareness and education on Disability issues must be paramount to help each person.

Credit: Africa World Airline.

Hearing Impairment

 Hearing Impairment

Hearing impairment is caused by many different causes, some of which can be successfully treated with medicine or surgery, depending on the disease process.

Conductive hearing lost - when hearing lost is because of issues with the ear canal, ear drum, or middle ear and its little bones (the malleus, incus, and stapes).

Sensorineural hearing lost  - when hearing lost is because of issues of the internal ear, otherwise called nerve-related hearing lost.

Mixed hearing lost - alludes to a mix of conductive and sensorineural hearing lost. This implies there might be harm in the external or center ear and in the inward ear (cochlea) or sound-related nerve.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Causes: 
Malformation of external ear, ear canal, or center ear structures,Fluids in the center ear from colds, Ear disease (otitis media - a contamination of the center ear in which an aggregation of liquid may meddle with the development of the eardrum and ossicles.

Causes: Poor Eustachian tube work,  Perforated eardrum,Kindhearted tumors, Affected earwax, Disease in the ear trench, Foreign body in the ear, Otosclerosis.

Treatment of Conductive Hearing Loss:

Kinds of conductive hearing misfortune incorporate intrinsic nonappearance of ear channel or disappointment of the ear waterway to be open during childbirth, inherent nonattendance, contortion, or brokenness of the center ear structures, all of which may conceivably be surgically amended. In the event that these are not manageable to effective surgical adjustment, at that point the hearing on the other hand might be enhanced with intensification with a bone conduction listening device, or a surgically embedded, osseointegrated gadget (for instance, the Baha or Ponto System), or a regular amplifier, contingent upon the status of the hearing nerve.

Different reasons for conductive hearing misfortune are: disease; tumors; center ear liquid from contamination or Eustachian tube brokenness; remote body; and injury (as in a skull crack). Intense contaminations are normally treated with anti-microbial or antifungal pharmaceuticals. Constant ear diseases, interminable center liquid, and tumors as a rule require surgery. On the off chance that there is no reaction to starting restorative treatment, irresistible center ear liquid is generally treated with anti-infection agents - while endless non-irresistible center ear liquid is treated with surgery (or weight adjusting tubes).

Conductive hearing lost from head injury is every now and again manageable by surgical repair of the harmed middle ear structures, performed after the patient's general restorative status is settled after intense horrendous wounds.

A hereditary type of conductive hearing lost is otosclerosis, in which there is hard obsession of the stapes (the third minimal bone of hearing in the center ear), where sound can't get to the center ear. Otosclerosis more often than not gives hearing lost in early adulthood. Otosclerosis can effectively be made do with surgery to supplant the stationary stapes with a portable stapes prosthesis or with an amplifier. Research proposes that the measles infection may add to stapes obsession in those with a hereditary inclination to otosclerosis. The occurrence of otosclerosis might diminish in a few groups because of measles inoculation. Otosclerosis (an inherited issue in which a hard development conforms to a little bone in the center ear, keeping it from vibrating when fortified by sound) more often than not causes a conductive hearing lost, a hearing misfortune caused by an issue in the external or center ear. Less every now and again, otosclerosis may cause a sensorineural hearing lost (harmed tangible cells and additionally nerve filaments of the inward ear), and also a conductive hearing misfortune.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Causes: Exposure to loud noise,  Head injury,  Infection or illness, Immune system inward ear infection,  Hearing misfortune that keeps running in the family,  Aging (presbycusis)
 Malformation of the internal ear, Meniere's Disease.

Otosclerosis - an innate issue in which a hard development conforms to a little bone in the center ear, keeping it from vibrating when fortified by sound.


Treatment of Sensorineural Hearing Loss:

Sensorineural hearing lost can come about because of acoustic injury (or introduction to unreasonably loud noise), which may react to therapeutic treatment with corticosteroids to lessen cochlea hair cell swelling and irritation to enhance mending of these harmed internal ear structures.

Sensorineural hearing lost can happen from head injury or sudden changes in pneumatic force, for example, in plane plunge, which can cause inward ear fluid compartment break or spillage, which can be harmful to the internal ear. There has been variable accomplishment with crisis surgery when this happens.

Sudden sensorineural hearing lost, attempted to be of viral starting point, is an otologic crisis that is restoratively treated with corticosteroids.

Bilateral progressive hearing loss more than a while, additionally analyzed as immune system internal ear ailment, is overseen restoratively with long haul corticosteroids and in some cases with medicate treatment. Immune system internal ear sickness is the point at which the body's insusceptible framework misleads its barriers against the inward ear structures to cause harm in this piece of the body.

Fluctuating sensorineural hearing lost might be from obscure reason or connected with Meniere's Disease. Indications of Meniere's infection are hearing lost, tinnitus (or ringing in the ears), and vertigo. Meniere's malady might be dealt with therapeutically with a low-sodium eating regimen, diuretics, and corticosteroids. In the event that the vertigo isn't restoratively controlled, at that point different surgical techniques are utilized to kill the vertigo.

Sensorineural hearing lost from tumors of the adjust nerve neighboring the hearing nerve, for the most part are not turned around with surgical evacuation or light of these kindhearted tumors. On the off chance that the hearing misfortune is gentle and the tumors are little, hearing might be spared in 50 percent of those experiencing hearing safeguarding surgery for tumor evacuation.

Sensorineural hearing lost from sickness in the focal sensory system may react to restorative administration for the particular ailment influencing the sensory system. For instance, hearing lost auxiliary to different sclerosis might be turned around with treatment for various sclerosis.

Irreversible sensorineural hearing lost, the most widely recognized type of hearing lost, might be made do with portable amplifiers. When listening devices are insufficient, this kind of hearing misfortune can be surgically treated with cochlear implants.