At least 1,500 persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are set to receive within the month wheelchairs, crutches, and walking canes from the region’s health ministry.

On Tuesday, 31 PWDs and senior citizens from the towns of South Upi, Pagalungan, Parang, and Datu Odin in the province of Maguindanao received mobility devices during a turnover program in this city.

Dr. Amirel Usman, acting head of the Ministry of Health (MOH), said PWDs and senior citizens are vulnerable sectors that need government attention.

“Hindi natin sila pwedeng pabayaan (We cannot just leave them alone),” Usman told local reporters Wednesday.

He said the senior citizens and the PWDs can still contribute as functioning members of the society despite their special needs.

MOH-BARMM has allocated 197 wheelchairs and assistive devices for each of BARMM’s five provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and two cities of Marawi and Lamitan.

Dr. Ehsan Paudac, head of MOH’s non-communicable disease cluster, said about 2 million people live with various forms of disability in the Philippines, 80 percent of whom are experiencing difficulties.

Across the BARMM, Paudac said there are at least 35,000 PWDs or about 1 percent of the total number of PWDs in the country.

“It is very crucial to PWDs to have access to social protection on an equal basis with others,” Paudac said.

Polio survivor Brian Tenorio, 32, of Barangay Kuya, South Upi, Maguindanao, was elated with the wheelchair he received from MOH-BARMM.

Tenorio, who is suffering from leg paralysis due to polio since he was seven, said his wheelchair would help him function well as a village information officer. (PNA)