Communication problems have been major obstacles for young people living with disability to enjoy Sexual and Reproductive Health services (SRH), a study has found out.

According to a study titled ‘Understating SRH needs of young persons with disability in Nepal’, lack of sign interpreter and availability of services in Braille script have come in the way of young people enjoying free services provided by the state.

Seventy-two percent of the 293 disabled people who participated in the survey from six districts—Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Kaski, Parsa and Bara—pointed to the lack of infrastructure and negative attitude of service providers as primary barriers in accessing SRH.

“The health post is only half an hour’s distance from my house. But I have not been able to use its service because I cannot make myself understood to the service providers. I don’t find them friendly either,” said a 20-year old deaf girl from Lalitpur.

As per the research conducted by Marie Stopes Nepal and Sunaulo Pariwar Nepal, among visually impaired, deaf and people with physical disability, 57 percent complained of lack of wheelchair access service, 12 percent of absence of sign language interpreter and one-fifth described difficulty communicating with service providers due to lack of shyness, inability to read or write the language of the service provider.