Data revolution and Health Justice for Women living with disabilities in Nigeria

Generally, women are confronted with diverse health related issues. Evidence from literature reveals that women living with disabilities encounter serious challenges in accessing health care due to reasons such as inappropriate health infrastructure, attitude of medical personnel, discrimination and unfavourable socio-economic scenarios. However, the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 and Article 25 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) endorse equity in health care provision and prohibits discrimination of any kind against people living with disabilities.

With the proclivity of the data revolution, the need to use data as the premise for social justice for people living with a disability is well articulated by scholars (Taylor, 2017). Unfortunately, the data collected during hospital visits are not sufficient in estimating the extent of disability prevalence by type, ethnicity, age, gender, status. Moreover, the data are not sufficient for eliminating hindrances faced by people living with disabilities in accessing appropriate health care services. The health care iniquity for those living with disabilities was further aggravated during the COVID pandemic. This article explores health inequities faced by women living with disability (visual or mobility impairment) in south western Nigeria and the relevance of the data revolution using a qualitative approach premised on in-depth interview as data collection technique. The study contributes to existing literature on health equity for women living with disabilities and provides insight on interventions aimed at advancing equity in health service delivery and well being for women living with disabilities in Nigeria and elsewhere.