Accessibility, healthcare top priorities for disabled ahead of Budget

With the national Budget set for Monday, the disabled community has urged the government to implement measures that enhance accessibility, promote inclusion, and expand support for people with disabilities.

The community has long advocated for improvements in treatment and supportive policies. While the passing of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2025 marked a major breakthrough, advocates say there is still much more to be done — the first step being enforcement.

Barbados TODAY spoke to several representatives at a Health Fair hosted by the Social Empowerment Agency on Wednesday.

“Assistive devices — there are so many different things we have to do in order to obtain something like a wheelchair, it’s very costly,” said Christopher Gilkes, who has Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

Quadriplegic Christopher Rouse hopes improvements in access to public spaces are included in the Budget.

“In terms of the buses, there are some (wheelchair accessible) buses, but the sidewalks still are not very accessible, so that’s, that’s a big challenge. I took the bus one time from Culloden Road to Speightstown and the bus terminal was so not accessible; even passing the bus stops, if I wanted to get off, I would basically have to get off in the road, so it’s still very challenging.”

“The buses are there, but the rest of the infrastructure needs to be dealt with as well,” added Rouse.

Suzanne Haewood, who suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, hopes the Budget will allow for comprehensive health checks, including dental and eye care.

“In the Budget, I would like them to introduce, instead of just the basic medical, they could do dental and the same eye.”

Amputee Meldine Norville wants the Budget to better support disabled people who require prosthetics.

“Me as a lady, a young lady with an amputation, prosthetic legs are very difficult to get. They’re very expensive, and we are not supported by government enough in terms of putting us back on our feet and giving us movement.”

Norville also highlighted barriers in the job market and public spaces.

“The job market out there is very small for disabled people, nobody wants a disabled person working in the establishments because basically they don’t build the establishments with enough room.”

“Even using a bathroom, it’s extremely difficult in some places. You go into an establishment, there’s no toilet facilities for disabled people. There are no ramps, like for instance, should I want to go into Bridgetown, I can’t get into a store,” she said, referring to many stores in the city. “So it’s extremely hard and you know what, it stops a lot of people from getting out there doing things that normal people do.”

Afeefa Manjra, who’s blind and partially deaf, appeals for more braille on public access places as well as on prescriptions.

Pedro Belgrave who’s blind, wants government to focus on advancing independence, education, and awareness for persons with disabilities.

“Helping persons whether it be in housing, sports, or welfare; pushing out a little more to help us to achieve independence, awareness and education.”

Acting Director of the Social Empowerment Agency, Wayne Nurse, also pointed to cost barriers to healthcare.

“For persons with disabilities, it’s very expensive. Another thing that persons with disabilities talk about is accessibility, being able to get into certain areas to access healthcare,” he said.  

He added that the government’s new policies aim to ensure people with disabilities can access healthcare equally.

“In the new policy that we have, that was passed recently, we’re gonna see how we’re going to be improving accessibility to everyone. That person with disabilities will also be able to access healthcare just like anybody else.” (LG)