Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have lamented that the absence of disability-disaggregated population data is worsening their exclusion and vulnerability in the country.
A coalition of disability rights groups, under the aegis of Count Disability Nigeria Coalition (CDNC), stated this while briefing newsmen in Abuja on the significance of disability disaggregated statistics in Nigeria.
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The convener of CDNC, Irene Patrick-Ogbogu, said World Bank/World Health Organisation estimated in 2018 that persons with disabilities accounted for 29 million out of the 200 million Nigerian population.
She, however, described the PWDs estimates in Nigeria as a “mere abstract proclamation” because it lacked concrete data to provide real usable evidence.
She noted that the collection of appropriate disability-disaggregated data would serve as reliable evidence and guide for the government in formulating and implementing relevant legal and policy frameworks, programmes, services, and products.
Irene, therefore, urged the federal government to fulfil its commitment to the 2018 Global Disability Summit (GDS) held in the UK.
The summit, among others, charged participants to collect and use reliable and comparable data on disability as well as establish a fund to support the development of a national disability database.
