As part of activities marking this year’s International Week of the Deaf, the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) has held a forum for hearing impaired people in the country.The forum on the theme: “Breaking the communication barrier between the deaf and the hearing public through sign language,” was attended by representatives of deaf people from all regions in the country.Addressing participants, the National President of GNAD, Emmanuel K. Sackey, called on Ghanaians to learn sign language, saying it would enable the deaf to contribute to national development and access information.He explained that among the several challenges of the deaf, accessibility to information and communication were the most crucial, saying that all other problems facing the deaf could be traced to communication barriers.Mr. Sackey lamented that though there were several laws, both locally and internationally, regarding communication with the deaf, they were still faced with communication barrier issues.“It is difficult for death persons to access healthcare in Ghana, partly due to communication barriers. In most instances, deaf persons are misdiagnosed and prescribed inappropriate medication leading to undue complication and preventable deaths. This is because there is no provision of sign language interpreters within the healthcare delivery system. The Ghana Health Service should accept basic sign language studies in their institutions,” he said.Mr. Sackey said though unemployment was a general economic problem, it affected the deaf and other people with disability more than non-disabled persons.He, therefore, appealed to stakeholders in the educational system including the public and private service providers to make their services accessible to the deaf through sign language to reduce the challenges they faced. The Deputy Director of Special Education Division, Ghana Education Service, Thomas Otaah, assured the participants that the government was doing its best to ensure that teaching and learning of the sign language was added to the educational curriculum at all levels.Mr. Otaah attributed the delay to the differences in the sign language across the country.