WHAT IS DISABILITY?

Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. Any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities are called people with disability. People with disability are among the most marginalized groups in the world. People with disability have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities.

 

Disability is now understood to be a human rights issue. People are disabled by society, not just by their bodies. These barriers can be overcome, if government, nongovernmental organizations, professional and people with disabilities and their families work together. The first ever World report on disability, produced by WHO and the World Bank, suggests that more than a billion people in the world today experience disability. Over a billion people, about 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability.

 

The international Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) defines disability as an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Between 110 million and 190 million adults have significant difficulties in functioning. People with disabilities have less access to health care services and therefore experience unmet health care needs. Rates of disability are increasing due to population, ageing and increase in chronic health conditions, among other causes.

 

Disability is extremely diverse. While some health conditions associated with disability result in poor health and extensive health care needs, others do not.

 

In order to improve access to health services for people with disabilities different organizations working for disability need to provide strategies to ensure that people with disabilities are knowledgeable about their own health conditions and the health care support they are entitled to.

 

Only by knowing their rights and provisions available by government and other actors like NGOs,  persons with disabilities can claim what is needed to ensure their  dignity.