Disabled deserve benefits package

Shelly Weir, president of the Hope Foundation. (Picture by Ricardo Leacock.)

By Wade Gibbons | Sat, May 21, 2011 - 12:06 AM

President of The Hope Foundation, Shelly Weir, has made a call for people with disabilities to be given benefits similar to those now being enjoyed by pensioners.

And she is also advising health authorities that sufferers of sickle cell anaemia could have their medical problems attended to more efficiently with the establishment of a medical day unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

Speaking Thursday night at the Hope Foundation’s 20th anniversary awards ceremony and dinner at the Grande Salle of the Central Bank of Barbados, Weir said despite a number of successes, the foundation could not claim to be satisfied that life was the best it could be for “sicklers”.

She said a call had been made for the establishment of the unit since 2001.

She also made a case for a neonatal screening programme to ensure that every newborn baby was screened for sickle cell.

“Research has shown that neonatal screening has significantly decreased morbidity and mortality with improved life expectancy through preventive and early aggressive treatment.

“In addition we will begin to get an indication of the incidence of this disease in the island,” she said.

Weir also highlighted that people with these conditions were disadvantaged with respect to health and life insurance. She called on Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler to make these accessible before Barbadians started screaming infringement of their human rights.