The World Disability Research Conference (WDRC), held from 28 to 29 August 2025 at the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, created a vital platform for global stakeholders to confront persisting inequities in disability rights, healthcare inclusion, and social participation. The University of Venda (UNIVEN) emerged as a prominent voice at this gathering, contributing evidence-based research and shaping international dialogue through the scholarly work of Prof Lufuno Makhado and Dr Thendo Gertie Makhado of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The conference opened with addresses from Mr Isanka P Gamage, Co-Founder of The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM), and Dr Loren O’Connor, President of the World Disability Research and Policy Association (WDRPA), both of whom underscored the urgency of inclusive global systems. Prof Jose Frantz, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape, delivered the keynote address on “Bridging Distances, Transforming Lives: Telerehabilitation as a Scalable Solution for Mental Health and Disability Inclusion.” These opening messages highlighted the centrality of collaboration and innovation in advancing equity. Complementing this was a powerful musical performance by Ghana’s King Sobada, advocating for disability rights through artistic expression. The morning session also saw the launch of a certificate programme aimed at empowering youth in the domains of counselling, education, and special needs support.
Within this context, UNIVEN’s contributions stood out significantly. Prof Lufuno Makhado’s pre-sentation, “Toward Equity in Health: A Fifteen-Year Progress and Gaps in Disability-In-clusive Healthcare (2010–2025),” provided a comprehensive reflection on the past decade and a half of global progress in disability-inclusive health systems. Through a rigorous scop-ing review of 64 studies, the presentation illuminated persistent barriers, including inaccessible facilities, financial challenges, discriminatory provider attitudes, and fragmented policies, that continue to undermine equitable access to healthcare. He highlighted the devastating impact of these barriers: PWDs face 1.88 times higher risk of mortality, significant delays in care, and ele-vated mental health burdens. Importantly, Prof Makhado called for integrated reforms through universal design, community-based rehabilitation, telehealth expansion, assistive technologies, and structural competency training. His recommendations stressed the need for co-designing services with PWDs, embedding equity into institutional practices, and enforcing international commitments such as the CRPD.
Framing the conversation within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Prof Makhado reaffirmed healthcare as a non-negotiable human right. Despite formal recognition of these rights, systemic exclusion remains prevalent. Many PWDs continue to experience inaccessible facilities, financial constraints, discriminatory practices, and policy fragmentation. The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as a critical turning point in the presentation, cited not only as a global health crisis but also as a stress test that exposed and amplified these longstanding disparities. The session sought to address three main objectives. First, it identified key barriers to accessing healthcare, ranging from physical inaccessibility and financial hardship to provider bias and systemic failures. Second, it evaluated interventions implemented across various contexts, including community-based rehabilitation (CBR), universal design, telehealth technologies, and assistive devices. Finally, the presentation explored the concept of structural competency as a transformative model for addressing systemic inequities in healthcare delivery. Unlike cultural competence, structural competency challenges healthcare providers to under-stand and respond to the social, economic, and institutional structures that underpin health disparities.
Among the interventions reviewed, universal design emerged as a cornerstone for accessible infrastructure and service delivery. Community-based rehabilitation was praised for empowering local actors to deliver health, education, and livelihood support in an inclusive manner. Tele-health and assistive technologies were highlighted for their role in expanding access, particularly in rural and under-resourced areas. Equally important were policy enforcement mechanisms and structural competency training, which aimed to shift both practice and mindset among healthcare providers.
The emphasis on structural competency reflected a call to action for clinicians not only to treat patients but to become advocates for systemic change within their institutions. Prof Makhado emphasised that the barriers faced by PWDs are often compounding, such as when disability intersects with poverty, and deeply intersectional, influenced by gender, race, geography, and social class. The future of inclusive healthcare, he argued, lies in integrated reform: reforms that are co-designed with affected communities, enforced through policy, and supported by restruc-tured training and education for health professionals.
Prof Makhado’s session was presented in parallel to technical session 04 – inclusive healthcare systems and the UNSDG agenda, where Dr Thendo Gertie Makhado, A Junior Lecturer in the Department of Advanced Nursing Sciences, presented “Mental Health and Identity Formation Among Primary School Children Living with Epilepsy: A Social-Educational Lens” where she com-plemented this vision with a presentation that shed light on disability, stigma, and mental health at a formative stage of life. Her study brought much-needed attention to the psychosocial chal-lenges faced by children in rural South African schools. Framed within Goffman’s Stigma Theory, the research explored how epilepsy-related stigma disrupts mental health and identity forma-tion among primary learners. Conducted in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces with 36 learn-ers aged 9–14, the qualitative study revealed how misconceptions about epilepsy, often framed as witchcraft, possession, or contagiousness, fuel social exclusion, bullying, and identity threats. Children with epilepsy were mocked, isolated, and in many cases forced to conceal their condi-tion, with damaging effects on self-concept and mental well-being.
The findings highlighted four central themes. First, epilepsy was perceived as a frightening and “spirit-linked” condition, contributing to fear-based stigma. Second, learners with epilepsy were subjected to exclusion and internalised shame. Third, the lack of accurate knowledge created both emotional distress and confusion among peers when seizures occurred. Finally, partici-pants emphasised the transformative role of education, expressing that culturally grounded, age-appropriate life skills programmes could normalise epilepsy, dismantle stigma, and encour-age empathy. Dr Makhado concluded that early, school-based life skills education has the po-tential to protect identity formation, strengthen peer support, and create inclusive environments that safeguard mental health.
Together, the two UNIVEN presentations exemplified how academic research can engage both systemic reforms and community realities. Prof Makhado’s contribution offered a macro-level analysis of structural barriers in global health systems, while Dr Makhado’s study illuminated the lived experiences of vulnerable children navigating stigma in everyday educational contexts. The synergy between these two perspectives highlighted UNIVEN’s unique strength: combining rigorous scholarship with a grassroots lens, ensuring that global conversations remain rooted in the realities of marginalised communities.
The session concluded with a robust focus group discussion that sparked deeper conversations around collaboration and co-design. From the South African perspective, the presence of di-verse institutional stakeholders demonstrated a growing regional momentum for collaborative action. The South African delegation was well represented, with additional contributions from the University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of the Free State, University of South Africa, and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). Within this collective, UNIVEN’s presence reinforced its growing reputation as an institution committed to advancing inclusive health and education, both regionally and globally. This collective repre-sentation not only added depth to the discussions but also laid the groundwork for a regional task force to champion disability-inclusive health reforms. It signified a renewed commitment to co-creating systems that are not only inclusive but resilient, responsive, and rooted in the lived realities of persons with disabilities.
UNIVEN’s visibility at the World Disability Research Conference 2025 underscored the institu-tion’s leadership in shaping disability discourse on the world stage. Addressing both structural inequities in health systems and the psychosocial realities faced by children with epilepsy, Prof Makhado and Dr Makhado positioned the university as a hub for transformative research and advocacy. Their contributions reflected progress and also charted a path forward, reminding the international community that inclusive healthcare and education are not optional aspirations but essential human rights.
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