JOHOR BARU: For the first time, International Day for Persons with Disabilities was held in a virtual manner at Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) on Wednesday.
Over the years, the event is held annually on International Day for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) on the grounds of the hospital.
This year's event was opened by HIS director Dr Khadijah Abu Bakar and organising chairman Dr Sharon Anne Khor Keat Sim.
Dr Khadijah said every year the hospital marks the event but this is the first time the programme was commemorated virtually.
She said the annual observance of the International Day for PWD aims to promote the rights and well-being of PWD in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of their situation in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
Dr Khor, in her speech, explained that the rehabilitation team in HSI endeavours to create greater access to education for PWD by facilitating educational programmes and knowledge sharing.
She said 15 per cent of the world's population currently live with some form of disability.
Dr Khor, who is the consultant rehabilitation physician head at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at HIS, said during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many patients had difficulty accessing healthcare services for fear of catching the virus.
"PWD faced greater challenges as many depended on others for transport to hospital," she said.
She said in order to observe social distancing, this vulnerable group delayed hospital appointments.
According to Dr Khor, the pandemic had spurred the rehabilitation team to prepare educational videos on "Walk for Persons with Disability" Facebook page so that patients could view relevant exercises from their handphones or home computers.
She also shared about the importance of providing access to safe, accessible and sustainable public facilities for all, particularly for PWD.
Dr Khor made it clear that each person who faces disabling condition should have access to rehabilitation which is the process of helping a person who has suffered an injury to restore lost skills and so regain maximum self-sufficiency.
"The human spirit is amazing as with the right support in place, a person can soar despite loss of body function," she added.
The highlights of the programme were a series of patient sharing sessions.
Siti Aisyah from Batu Pahat shared about how she sustained spinal cord injury after a motor vehicle accident, though, initially, she found it hard to accept her lower limb paralysis and her dependence on others.
She said after undergoing rehabilitation at HSI, she learned to manage the loss of her body function.
"Despite being in a wheelchair, I am able to resume my studies at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and the university management was very supportive and facilitated my transfer from Parit Raja to Pagoh campus where most facilities were wheelchair-accessible," she said.
Sim Ming Huey shared about her difficulty during her acceptance phase when she was faced with loss of independence.
After spinal rehabilitation training at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital, she has learned to drive a modified car and travelled to Macau with her friends.
"I was even able to earn an income as an e-hailing driver, until the recent pandemic," she explained.
Mohd Khairul Asyraf, who has muscular dystrophy, spoke about his journey in rehabilitation to delay progression of musculoskeletal complications.
He completed his studies after obtaining his diploma in Information Technology at UTHM.
He recalled the days his classmates helped him move him about in a wheelchair using ramps between the faculty buildings.
"I am on my own now selling gadgets such as phones, tablets and laptops for a living," he said.
PWD have made special request for more accessible public facilities such as schools with wheelchair ramps, science laboratory/computer lab be situated on the ground floor.
They have also requested that the government create adequate parking space for PWD, proper pavements from carpark to building, playground and beach.