Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva
2026-02-17
Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva raised two supplementary concerns regarding healthcare access for persons with disabilities. First, he highlighted communication barriers between health staff and persons with disabilities, particularly the lack of sign language support. Second, he drew attention to the practice of requiring admitted patients with disabilities to bring their own caregivers, noting this imposes a significant financial burden, and requested that the Deputy Minister propose alternative solutions to address both issues.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Minister, for the answer. My first supplementary is on communication between the health staff and persons with disabilities—especially sign language and related matters—where there are problems. Also, after admission, persons with disabilities are at times required to bring a caregiver, and otherwise are not admitted to wards. This imposes a heavy cost. Will you address this and propose alternatives?