Govt to give PWDs free devices

The government has advanced plans to roll out and issue free assistive devices to all persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the country, Monitor has learnt.

In the strategic plan spearheaded by the Ministry of Health under the Disability and Rehabilitation Division led by Dr Jimmy Ochorin, the government intends to push for inclusion of such assistive devices on essential medical items.

“The Ministry of Health is in the process of developing the very first of its kind strategic plan that speaks to a number of strategic directions, including easy accessibility and availability of services but also local production of these devices,” Dr Ochorin said.

Government hopes to commence the process by addressing persons with visual impairment and later include other categories of PWDs.

Dr Ochorin said government would activate the existing optical workshops nested within the various regional referral hospitals by starting with the unit at the Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital.

“The moment the [strategic document that speaks for rehabilitation and assistive technologies] is ready, [World Health Organisation] is going to support us to make sure that we start tackling the problem of raw materials for devices in about three to four regional referral hospitals to increase or improve on local production of these devices,” Dr Ochorin disclosed.

He added: “The Ministry of Health in collaboration with its partners want to rehabilitate the optical workshop in Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital, which will be in position to produce locally-visual aids that will be evenly distributed, especially to students that have been diagnosed to have low visual at whatever level of school or even at earliest as low as three years.”

The Health ministry is currently in consultation with the Education, Gender, and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) ministries to smoothen the roll-out of the campaign. 

While the Gender ministry will provide granular details on PWDs, the ICT ministry is tasked with making technologies and data available at low costs.

“We began developing the policy some time back but because of the changes in technology, we thought it is best to review this draft policy,” Mr Silas Ngabirano, the acting commissioner for Research and Development in the ICT ministry, revealed.

He added: “We hope to come up with a policy formation for developing an ICT needs essential list. This list is going to define which type of equipment for PWDs … Once we develop this list, we shall be able to influence tax policy so that these devices … have zero tax policy.” 

Government has since combined efforts with forces in the private sector to undertake the process. Cyber School Technology Solutions is currently implementing the Uganda eLearning Initiative for Educational Institutions in Partnership with the Mastercard Foundation to champion uptake of technologies for PWDs across the country.

“Over the last few years, we have identified that there is a gap between what the market requires and what the educational institutions are providing … Young people coming out of the university are generally not employable. They don’t have 21st Century skills like digital skills,” Mr John Robert Mukiibi Katende, the project manager for the E-learning Initiative Implemented by Cyber School Technology Solutions, told Saturday Monitor.

Ms Esther Kyozira, the chief executive of the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), however, believes there is still work to be done.

“ We had very serious challenges, especially those that have visual impairments … plus others that had multiple disabilities. They found it difficult to follow through in the learnings that were made,” Ms Kyozira said at the in-residence training the Cyber School held.
She added: “Government talks about reducing the costs of items for PWDs. We want this to be made simple. For instance, persons with visual impairment mostly use iPhones and they are too expensive … [can they] be subsidised for PWDs?”

Partnership 
The Cyber School administration has partnered with government-led and private schools to implement the programme. 

The institutions include Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Kyambogo Faculty of Special Needs, Busitema University, Nkumba University, MAT ABACUS, Lokopio Hills Technical Institute, and Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT).

Mr Katende disclosed that the Uganda eLearning Initiative has set itself a goal of reaching 95,000 youth in 21 educational institutions, with 12,500 transforming into meaningful and dignified work.

Additionally, to kickstart the government efforts and attract other players, the Cyber School - Mastercard Foundation Uganda eLearning Initiative has since availed a vast array of assistive devices. Some of the items distributed include 1,000 laptops, 96 with fusion software; 144 audio recorders; 17 Focus Blue 40s; three devices with Dragon Software; four clear readers; four Ruby 10s; three tablets with iCommunicators and three hearing aids given out to students.