Nigeria’s Doctoral Researcher highlights the “Double Pandemic” Facing Persons with Disabilities.

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

In a compelling commentary, public health expert and Doctoral Researcher at Queensland University of Technology, Aaron Akpu Philip has shed light on the disproportionate and often overlooked struggles of people with disabilities (PWDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aaron argues that for this vulnerable population, the virus is not the only crisis; it is an exacerbating factor in what he calls a “Pandemic of discrimination” that they have faced their entire lives.

Aaron, an advocate for a social model of disability, asserts that societal barriers, not individual impairments, are the primary sources of disadvantage. He notes that despite Nigeria’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2019 signing of a national disability law, PWDs remain largely marginalized. This marginalization became acutely visible during the pandemic, as government stimulus packages and support plans failed to deliberately include them.

His article is a powerful call to action, urging the Nigerian government to honour its commitments by actively including PWDs in all pandemic-related support and recovery efforts. Beyond the immediate crisis, he implores society to become more conscious of and responsive to the needs of PWDs, ensuring they are not forgotten once the pandemic subsides. Aaron’s work emphasizes that true public health equity requires a focus on the most vulnerable, and that a collective win against the coronavirus can only be achieved when every community, including those with disabilities, is brought along.