NGO Raises Awareness for Persons Living with Spinal Cord Injury

s observed every 5th September since 2016 by The  International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS), with different slogans and themes that highlight the most current issues of concern for spinal cord injured individuals.

Conditions such as war, natural disasters, effects of climate change, poverty, hunger, drought and pandemic adversely affect all life on earth. Spinal cord injured individuals and other individuals with chronic health problems could be more affected by these conflicts than the healthy population.

This year, the ISCoS, in a bid to draw attention to the difficulties and problems faced by individuals with spinal cord injuries living in disadvantaged areas and conflict zones, defined the theme of 2022 SCI Day as, Raising awareness about the difficulties faced by SCI individuals in conflict zones and the slogan of 2022 SCI Day as, SCI in Conflicts and Disasters: Prepare and Prevent.

Experience has shown that persons with disabilities, especially wheelchair users, are often left behind or abandoned during evacuation in disasters and conflicts due to discrimination, lack of preparation and planning, as well as inaccessible facilities and services and transportation systems.

To ensure that PWDs are properly cared for when disasters occur, organisations of persons with disabilities, political authorities, public administrators and civil society organisations should be involve in planning strategies for tackling  disasters and conflicts.

Emergency plans should consider the fact that most spinal cord injured persons use wheelchairs and as such, their locations and emergency needs should be known and assessed before disaster strikes.

In addition, emergency responders, like the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the police and civil defence, as well as state emergency response agencies, who are required to lift and transport people with spinal cord injuries, should receive appropriate training and have appropriate equipment for these tasks.

Evacuation, emergency transportation, sheltering and temporary rehabilitation facilities should be easily accessible by wheelchair to avoid unnecessary delays and additional injuries.

Rehabilitation is central to the eventual level of functionality of the spinal cord injured, irrespective of whether the injury was sustained prior to or due to conflicts and disasters.