Decade of inclusive education in Ghana: perspectives of special educators

Inclusive education systems reflect growing awareness of the imperatives of 21st-century societies to make quality education available to all students. The development of inclusive education in Ghana has been recognized as the process for orchestrating educational quality and equity for students with disabilities. This article contributes to the area of inclusive education from Ghanaian educators on its progress and achievements. The data in this paper emerged from a case study involving educators from two regions in Ghana. Findings show an uncoordinated attempt to pilot inclusive education across the country because of different agencies funding the project. The authors argue that there is the need for a holistic review of the program to ground the policy within the education system of Ghana

Repurposing NGO data for better research outcomes: A scoping review of the use and secondary analysis of NGO data in health policy and systems research

Background Non-government organisations (NGOs) collect and generate vast amounts of potentially rich data, most of which are not used for research purposes. Secondary analysis of NGO data (their use and analysis in a study for which they were not originally collected) presents an important but largely unrealised opportunity to provide new research insights in critical areas including the evaluation of health policy and programmes. Methods A scoping review of the published literature was performed to identify the extent to which secondary analysis of NGO data has been used in health policy and systems research (HPSR). A tiered analytic approach provided a comprehensive overview and descriptive analyses of the studies which: 1) used data produced or collected by or about NGOs; 2) performed secondary analysis of the NGO data (beyond use of an NGO report as a supporting reference); 3) used NGO-collected clinical data. Results Of the 156 studies which performed secondary analysis of NGO-produced or collected data, 64% (n=100) used NGO-produced reports (e.g. to critique NGO activities and as a contextual reference) and 8% (n=13) analysed NGO-collected clinical data.. Of the studies, 55% investigated service delivery research topics, with 48% undertaken in developing countries and 17% in both developing and developed. NGO-collected clinical data enabled HPSR within marginalised groups (e.g. migrants, people in conflict-affected areas), with some limitations such as inconsistencies and missing data. Conclusion We found evidence that NGO-collected and produced data are most commonly perceived as a source of supporting evidence for HPSR and not as primary source data. However, these data can facilitate research in under-researched marginalised groups and in contexts that are hard to reach by academics, such as conflict-affected areas. NGO–academic collaboration could help address issues of NGO data quality to facilitate their more widespread use in research. Their use could enable relevant and timely research in the areas of health policy, programme evaluation and advocacy to improve health and reduce health inequalities, especially in marginalised groups and developing countries

Disability and HIV: critical intersections

The relationship between HIV and disability is complex, but critical, because disabled people are vulnerable to HIV infection, while people living with HIV are at high risk of impairment. But this relationship remains largely unexplored in disability studies, epidemiology, global health, development and associated fields, and disability issues have been largely neglected in global and national HIV policy responses. The continuing lack of data on HIV prevalence among disabled people globally obscures their specific needs and requirements in accessing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. This chapter discusses conceptualisations of disability, bodies and health identities. We then examine disabled people' vulnerability to HIV, including violence, stigma and access to sexual health and HIV prevention and treatment programmes. We focus on the relationship between disability and HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, the continent that has been most affected by the HIV epidemic to date, and examine recent policy initiatives by disabled people's organisations and networks of people living with HIV to tackle discrimination to advance their claim for the right to health in the differing local and national contexts of Ghana and Uganda