What is Required to Support the Implementation of Inclusive Health in Mainstream Programmes?

Health is a development priority across countries and contexts. Yet many health systems are still not accessible for persons with disabilities. The Inclusive Family Planning project (IFPLAN), part of the UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development Inclusive Futures programme, operates in Northern Nigeria to improve access to sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities. It partnered with the Lafiya project – a UK aid-funded mainstream health programme – on putting disability inclusion into their practice. In a team consisting of two Inclusive Futures management staff, a disability specialist seconded to the Lafiya project, and a women with disabilities from the Nigerian National Association of the Deaf, we led the process to identify lessons from this collaboration. In this article, we address the central question ‘What is needed to achieve inclusive health in mainstream programmes?’ We offer eight practical recommendations to enhance equal access for persons with disabilities, adaptable across contexts.