GSK helps empower 722 disabled people with Rs. 39 million project

More than 700 people with disabilities have been empowered to lead more productive lives as a result of a three-year, Rs. 39 million project in the south of Sri Lanka by GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK), the leading pharmaceuticals and vaccines company in the country.

The project, which concluded in December 2011, was executed on behalf of GSK by the Leonard Cheshire Disability Resource Centre (LCDRC) at Habaraduwa in Galle.

Comprising of a series of multi-faceted programmes, the project has over the three years also benefitted more than 2,200 family members of the principal beneficiaries, and resulted in the Habaraduwa Divisional Secretary’s Division receiving praise as one of most inclusive and barrier-free divisions in the country for persons with disabilities.

Commenting on the achievements of the project, Stuart Chapman, GSK Pharmaceuticals Managing Director in Sri Lanka said: “This initiative was a perfect fit with GSK’s mission to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. It also supports the efforts by the government to promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. We are pleased that this project will have a tangible, long term impact in eliminating some of the attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers for disabled persons and their families.”  

Conducted under the five principal focus areas of Healthcare, Rehabilitation, Livelihoods, Infrastructure and Information, the programmes funded by GSK included structured health and rehabilitation initiatives to reduce the impact of disability; innovative community based services that supported persons with disabilities to live inter-dependent lives with others; advocacy to promote disabled children’s right to meaningful education; and training and micro finance for sustainable livelihoods programmes that focused on economic empowerment and self reliance.

At its conclusion last month, the project had enabled 131 persons with locomotor impairment to improve their mobility, helped 62 persons with hearing and speech impairment to improve their communication abilities, developed the living skills of 51 children with disabilities and donated 81 assistive devices to persons with disabilities.

In addition, the project has been responsible for the establishment of mental health clinics in the Habaraduwa area, a legal support service to fight the violation of rights of disabled persons and an effective medical referral system. Nine Vocational Training Institutes now accept persons with disabilities for training; an IT training centre has been set up with funding from GSK and five schools have built access ramps for disabled students. One of these schools, the Martin Wickramasinghe Vidyalaya at Habaraduwa has been designated a model inclusive school.

The project has also provided micro finance to 56 persons with disabilities to set up their own businesses. Among these recipients, some have already achieved commercial success and economic independence, with ventures such as shoe manufacture, yoghurt making and retail shops.

The project to empower persons with disabilities was the second major community initiative of GSK to conclude in 2011.

The other was a project to build 149 transitional shelters in the Polonnaruwa District for families that lost their homes in floods.

GSK and its predecessors have been doing business in Sri Lanka since the late 1930s. GSK also spent Rs. 29 million to help restore healthcare systems and improve service capacity in areas devastated by the 2004 tsunami and donated essential medications for those affected in the disaster. Among other community initiatives by GSK are the donation of a fully equipped high dependency unit (HDU) to the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital and the refurbishments of wards at the Welisara Chest Hospital and the Lunawa District Hospital.