Equity in Vaccination: Bhakti Ghatole on Disability-Inclusive Immunization Campaigns

Key Takeaways

• Vaccination is a human right and even more crucial for people with disabilities due to heightened vulnerability to infections.
• Accessibility barriers—like transport and suitable infrastructure—limit vaccine uptake for persons with disabilities, despite high willingness.
• Community engagement must be personalized; different disabilities require tailored strategies and deeper consultation.
• True inclusivity in healthcare goes beyond age or gender—it must account for a full spectrum of marginalized populations.

The Importance of Inclusive Vaccination Campaigns

A Tribute to Bhakti Ghatole: Champion of Disability-Inclusive Vaccination

Bhakti Ghatole was a psychologist and researcher from Nagpur, India. Blinded from cancer at the age of 9, she dedicated her professional life to advocating for disability- and gender-inclusivity, particularly in health and vaccination programming. During her time as a researcher at Sangath India, she led data collection and analysis for Sabin-led projects focused on immunization equity and community engagement. She died on May 11, 2025 of cancer-related complications.

All those who worked with Bhakti will miss her spirit and dedication to ensure equity in health care.

Below, Bhakti shares the importance of including the voices of individuals with disabilities and other marginalized individuals in the planning and roll-out of immunization campaigns.

Why is vaccination important, particularly for people with disabilities? 

Vaccination is a human right, I believe. For persons with disability, it is all the more important because they are at a very heightened risk of infection of COVID-19 and other infections. Because of [that], vaccination becomes very important for persons with disability.

Why is community engagement so important when planning vaccine campaigns?

For persons with disabilities, simply traveling to get vaccinated can be a significant challenge. For example, a wheelchair user, they need suitable transport facilities, accessible centers, and only then are they able to take the vaccination. The willingness was there — that we found in our study — but they were not able to go and take the vaccination because of the external barriers that they were having.

It is important to listen because there may be different challenges that they will face. There will be different accessibility requirements for different types of disability. You can’t say, ‘OK, we are providing home vaccination, and we are trying to be equal.’ Well, that is not the case.

For example, if we want to vaccinate persons with intellectual disability, we need to engage with the caregivers, we need to engage with the doctors, and only then will it be easier for a person with intellectual disability to trust vaccination. In that sense, it is very important to engage with the community on a one-on-one basis, rather than taking a general response.

In your opinion, what actions can be taken to increase vaccine uptake among disability and marginalized communities?

Engagement with the health system is never-ending, especially for the trans community and the disability community, because they are [some] of the most vulnerable populations.

Creating awareness within doctors, within nurses [is important] because that’s what is creating barriers. That’s what is creating so many negative experiences for these two communities, which is stopping them [from visiting] the hospital even if they want help.

The well-being of every individual, and the health of every individual is important, and it’s a basic human right. When systems are prioritizing, designing, planning, and making programs, they need to understand that we are incorporating every community in the country. It can’t just be for pregnant women if they want to say that we are gender-inclusive, it can’t just be for older people. It needs to be for other types of marginalized people as well.