Has Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 Response Overlooked People With Disabilities?

Sri Lanka’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic – from health guidelines to lockdowns, curfews and, most recently, vaccination drives – has largely neglected a particularly vulnerable portion of its population.

People with disabilities remain at risk from the virus and their specific needs are overlooked by most response measures. Activists and researchers emphasise that the only way to facilitate inclusion in decision-making processes is to integrate disability issues into mainstream policy, specifically through the leadership and involvement of persons with disabilities in key processes and response measures.