East African legislators push for disability rights and haemophilia care

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) are urging the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers to address critical gaps in regional policy regarding disability rights and healthcare.

Legislators have called for the implementation of the EAC Persons with Disabilities Bill, which was passed in 2016 but has yet to become law. Current issues include inadequate accessibility in EAC institutions, such as a lack of ramps, handrails, and audio facilities in lifts. Lawmakers emphasized that 15.4 percent of the East African population lives with a disability and noted that all partner states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In a separate motion, EALA members proposed a regional framework to manage haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. The proposal seeks to integrate these conditions into national health policies and universal health coverage schemes. To combat high medicine costs and a lack of data, legislators suggested using the EAC pooled procurement mechanism and creating regional patient registries to improve access to essential clotting-factor treatments.