Participants at a workshop to mark the 2025 World Down Syndrome Day have called for improved access to adequate healthcare services for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the society.

The workshop was organised by the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria (DSFN) on Friday  in Lagos, with the theme: “Improving Support Systems – Access to Healthcare”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated annually on March 21 to raise awareness on their health condition.

Mrs Nike Denis, National Coordinator of  DSFN, called on government at all levels to put the right structure in place that allows access to adequate  healthcare services for the PWDs.

Denis said that the healthcare system needed to be structured in a way that persons with disability would be given some little form of preference to guarantee their easy and fast access to healthcare.

According to her, there is need for more and improved collaboration between the governments and PWDs to foster access to adequate and timely healthcare services for persons with disabilities.

“Despite the already existing healthcare services, there is still need for the government to do more because presently, one can sit all today at the hospitals just to see a doctor.

“The government needs to structure the healthcare system in such a way that PWDs can be given some level of preference to guarantee their access to timely, quality and subsidised healthcare services.

“It can as well be programmed in a way that the healthcare services be brought closer to the PWDs maybe in their schools at least once in every month, because not all PWDs can go to the hospitals,” Denis said.

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Mrs Funmi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), called on the government to rise to its responsibilities by ensuring that everyone with disability had access to all needed support and care.

Falana, also a Human Right Activist, said that the government needs to pay more attention to the vulnerable in the society, as done in other climes.

” In other countries of the world, there are various programmed support system for the vulnerable, particularly those with disabilities, that allows for their total inclusion in every activities in the society.

“In other countries of the world, there are free medicare services for the vulnerable and even child care support for the parents of a child with disability.

“The governments can take a cue from that to rise to its responsibilities and ensure that the persons with disability are not deprived of their rights but are given the needed support and care as obtained in other climbs,” Falana said.

Dr Elizabeth Fatuyi, Medical Officer of Health, Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, reaffirmed commitment of the Lagos State Government to ensuring welfare and healthcare of the PWDs.

Fatuyi explained that the government’s Basic Healthcare Provision Scheme for PWDs allowed for free access to healthcare services for all persons with disability.

She encouraged the PWDs to take advantage of the scheme to access the free healthcare services at all government hospitals across the state.

According to her, the local government has started compilation of the names of persons with down syndrome for their enrollment into the scheme.

Earlier, Mrs Rose Mordi, the President and Founder of the Foundation, said that the day was set aside all over the world to celebrate persons with down syndrome.

According to her,  persons with down syndrome are people with special needs, and as such, should be given special attention, stressing the need to have specialised healthcare workers/doctors that handle their cases at the hospitals.