EAST LONDON– In a powerful display of compassion and commitment to inclusive healthcare the Eastern Cape Department of Health in partnership with Disabled People South Africa (DPSA), hosted a Disability Medical Outreach on 05 September 2025 at the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) Health District Offices in East London.
The event was designed to provide essential healthcare services tailored to the needs of individuals with disabilities, while also creating a vital platform for those affected to voice their concerns and needs directly to provincial leadership.
Delivering the keynote address Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa reinforced the province’s stance on inclusive healthcare and human rights.
“Disability is not an asterisk it is central to the way we deliver self-care and development. We must confront the truth that people with disabilities, especially women and young people, remain the most marginalised in our society. Today we say these are not favours, they are constitutional rights.”
The outreach is part of a broader commitment by the provincial health department to ‘move the health system forward together‘ by prioritising access, dignity and equality in healthcare services.
For many in attendance, the event was more than symbolic it was a lifeline.
Resident from Chicken Farm Reeeston, Khaya Melane shared his experience.“I am here today so that I could personally ask the MEC to build us clinics closer to home, I struggle to walk to the nearest clinic it’s far and the mobile clinics only come once in a while.”
Furthmore such testimonies underscored the real-life challenges many disabled individuals face in accessing healthcare across the province’s rural and semi-urban areas.
In addition Chairperson of DPSA in the Eastern Cape Nomfundiso Gagayi, expressed gratitude for the outreach initiative. “We are grateful for this partnership with the Department of Health. We really tend to be forgotten as disabled people but now, with this, our dignity is restored.”
The program also aimed to foster greater collaboration, awareness, and long-term planning for inclusive health services across the province.
Organisers stressed that the event was not a once-off initiative but part of an evolving strategy to bring healthcare to underserved and often overlooked communities. As the province looks ahead, the hope is that events like these will become the norm ensuring no one is left behind in the pursuit of health and dignity for all.
Photographs: Emihle Dokolwana
