Government Urged To Establish Council For The Disabled

Accra, (Greater Accra) 3 Oct.,

The Administrative Secretary of the Ghana National Trust Fund , Mr. David Arku-Mensah today appealed to the government to enact a law for the establishment of a council for the disabled. This Council, he said, will provide the right push and direction for the country to offer full support to the disabled in the society. Mr. Arku-Mensah made the appeal when the Deputy Minister of Health , Mr. Samuel Nuamah-Donkor opened the 44th annual general meeting of the Ghana Society For the Blind in Accra. He said the Ministries of Health and Employment and Social Welfare should liaise with the appropriate authorities for the establishment of such a law which he said is long overdue. He explained that the UN declared 1981 as the international year for the disabled and called on all countries to offer equal opportunities to the disabled and to establish a council for the disabled. Mr. Arku-Mensah said most countries including some African states, have established such councils but Ghana has not even considered doing so. ''This is unlike other cases where the establishment of councils on children and women in the country were made possible after the UN had made a similar move''. Mr. Nuamah-Donkor assured the gathering that he would forward the suggestion to the government saying the government was prepared to assist the needy in society because a nation cannot leave behind a section of its citizens in the march towards development.