There was considerable discrimination against persons with mental disabilities in Sierra Leone, according to the U.S. Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2021.
The Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor report which was published recently shows that most persons with mental disabilities received no treatment or public services.
“At the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital in Kissy, the only inpatient psychiatric institution that served persons with mental disabilities, authorities reported that only one consulting psychiatrist was available, patients were not provided sufficient food or sanitation facilities, and restraints were primitive and dehumanizing.”
Local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) documented discrimination against persons with albinism in Kenema and Freetown, including mistreatment and denial of medical care.
According to the Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone (HRCSL), several Kenema residents poured boiling hot water on a man living with a mental disability who caused a disturbance near their home. The perpetrators confessed to the crime, and authorities charged them in court.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is responsible for providing free primary health-care services to persons with polio and diabetic retinopathy as well as to blind or deaf persons. The ministry did not provide these services consistently, and organizations reported many persons with disabilities had limited access to medical and rehabilitative care, according to the report.
“The Ministry of Social Welfare has a mandate to provide policy oversight for problems affecting persons with disabilities but had limited capacity to do so.” The NGO Defense for Children International stated the government did not effectively enforce the law or implement programs to make buildings, information, and communications accessible. In view of the high rate of general unemployment, work opportunities for persons with disabilities were even more limited, and begging was commonplace. Children with disabilities were also less likely to attend school than other children, according to the report.
By Sallieu S, Kanu