By Dickson Omobola

Adeola Bakare is a community pharmacist at Citiserve Pharmacy. In this interview, Bakare speaks on the challenges patients with disabilities face in the country’s hospitals. Excerpts:

What are your thoughts on the state of disability rights and patient safety in Nigeria?

Honestly, it is a blind spot. This is because patients with disabilities are often treated as secondary citizens within our healthcare system. When we talk about patient safety, we tend to focus on surgical errors, infections, or wrong diagnoses, but we ignore the barriers that make hospitals themselves unsafe for people with physical, sensory, or intellectual disabilities. These barriers range from poorly designed facilities to staff who lack the training or empathy to provide inclusive care.

Could you describe some of the specific barriers patients with disabilities face in Nigerian hospitals?

Let us imagine a patient in a wheelchair trying to access a government hospital with no ramps or elevators. Or a visually impaired patient who is not guided through a crowded outpatient clinic. Or a deaf person who arrives at the emergency room and can not communicate because no one on staff understands sign language. I have seen restrooms without grab bars, wards that are inaccessible, and even pharmacists speaking only to caregivers instead of addressing the patient directly. These things may seem small, but they can have devastating consequences.

How much of this problem is due to lack of staff awareness?

Training is a huge part of the problem. Most of our medical and pharmacy schools don’t include disability competence in their training. That means healthcare workers are entering practice unprepared to engage respectfully or effectively with patients who have disabilities. Some treat them with pity, others with impatience, and some just ignore them altogether. This leads to delays, substandard care, and in some cases, real harm.

What role does stigma play?

Unfortunately, stigma is real. Some healthcare providers assume that people with disabilities are less intelligent, less compliant, or even less deserving of full care. In extreme cases, patients with disabilities have told me they were laughed at, sidelined in queues, or told their case was too difficult to handle. This kind of treatment is not just unethical—it is dangerous. It drives people away from care altogether.

Are there existing policies that should protect these patients?

Yes, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 is clear. It mandates accessibility in public buildings—including hospitals—and criminalizes discrimination. But as is often the case in Nigeria, policy exists on paper but is barely implemented. Many hospital managers haven’t read the Act, and enforcement is weak. We need accountability mechanisms and strong political will to make the law meaningful.

What are the risks of continuing with the status quo?

We are putting lives at risk. People with disabilities may avoid hospitals until it is too late. Others may receive wrong treatments due to poor communication or lack of accommodations. Beyond that, we’re reinforcing a healthcare culture that says, “some lives matter less.” That’s not only unjust—it’s a public health failure.

What immediate steps would you recommend to improve the situation?

First, retrofit existing healthcare facilities to be accessible—not just new buildings. Second, mandate disability awareness training for all healthcare workers, from consultants to cleaners. Third, recruit and train sign language interpreters and ensure hospitals have a plan for patients with communication needs. Finally, we need to start including patients with disabilities in health policy planning. Nothing about us without us, as the saying goes.

What role do policymakers and the public have to play?

Everyone deserves to feel safe when they walk into a hospital. That includes people with disabilities. If we want to build a truly inclusive healthcare system, we must stop seeing accessibility as a privilege. It is a fundamental part of patient safety. And the time to act is now.