Abstract:
Background: Accessibility of health care to students with disabilities is a global concern. This is no less important
in Ghana, however, to date, no study has been undertaken regarding access to health care to students with disabilities.
This study, therefore, aims to explore the accessibility of health care to students with disabilities, in the quest of achieving
universal health coverage in Ghana.
Methods: Qualitative methods, involving in-depth interviews were employed to collect data from 54 participants (29
students with disabilities, 17 health workers and 8 school mothers), selected through purposive sampling. Thematic
analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: The study identified three themes – accessibility, adequacy, and affordability. The study findings highlighted that
universal health coverage for students with disabilities has not been achieved due to barriers in accessing health care. The
barriers faced by students with disabilities were unfriendly physical environments, structures, equipment, limited support
services and poor health insurance policy to finance health care.
Conclusion: The study concludes that the government should prioritize disability-related issues in health policy
formulation, implementation and monitoring. The current provisions and requirements in the disability act should be
prioritized, enforced and monitored to ensure adequate inclusion of disability issues in health services. Further, the current
exemption policy under the National Health Insurance Scheme should be revised to adequately address the needs of
people with disabilities.
