What does a disability-inclusive pandemic response mean for Liberia and how can it lead to genuine systemic change?

人们普遍认为，2019冠状病毒病对残疾人的影响尤为严重（FCDO,2020； UN,2020a）。然而，关于应对措施本身对低收入环境中残疾人口的生活产生影响的方式和程度，以及与其他流行病相比如何，经验证据有限。这项研究比较了残疾人如何经历利比里亚两种广泛传播的传染病（埃博拉和COVID-19）的爆发。利比里亚的多维贫困水平很高。2014-2015年西非爆发埃博拉疫情，造成近5000人死亡，确诊病例超过1万例，目前该国仍在努力应对COVID-19。与许多国家一样，利比里亚政府采取了广泛措施遏制COVID-19的传播，包括封锁和强制保持社交距离。这些都对残疾人产生了负面影响（粮农组织，2020年），COVID-19可能会加剧已有的障碍（联合国，2020b）。然而，尽管有大量关于如何将残疾人纳入2019冠状病毒病应对工作的指导（UN,2020a,2020b；世卫组织，2020），但很少有经验证据表明这对低收入环境中的残疾人群体产生了影响。这一建议建立在以前DFID/ esrc资助的研究基础上。它将研究如何将残疾人有意义地纳入流行病和其他人道主义应对工作，以及如何发展对政府的信任（这是遵守公共卫生的关键驱动因素）和卫生系统提供卫生信息和服务的能力。这项研究将收集深入的定性数据，采用交叉方法分析残疾和公共卫生危机中的不平等现象，审查性别、残疾和贫困等问题。

It is widely recognised that people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 (FCDO,2020; UN,2020a). Yet there is limited empirical evidence on the ways and extent to which the response itself has affected the lives of disabled populations in low-income settings, and how this compares to other epidemics. This research compares how people with disabilities experienced outbreaks of two widespread infectious diseases in Liberia (Ebola and COVID-19). Liberia has high levels of multidimensional poverty. The country is still reeling from the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which killed nearly 5,000 people with over 10,000 confirmed cases, and is now grappling with COVID-19. Like many countries, the Liberian Government implemented extensive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including lockdowns and enforced social distancing. These have negative implications for people with disabilities (FAO,2020), and COVID-19 is likely to exacerbate pre-existing barriers (UN,2020b). However, while there is a raft of guidance on how to include people with disabilities in the COVID-19 response (UN,2020a,2020b; WHO,2020), there is little empirical evidence of the impact this has had on disabled populations in low-income settings.This proposal builds upon previous DFID/ESRC-funded research. It will examine how people with disabilities can achieve meaningful inclusion in epidemic and other humanitarian responses, and how trust in government - a critical driver in public health compliance - and the capacity of health systems to deliver health messages and services can be developed. This research will gather in-depth qualitative data, taking an intersectional approach to analyse inequalities in disability and public health crises, examining issues including gender, impairment and poverty.