CONCERN EXPRESSED AT WHO MEETING OVER DECLINING RESOURCES FOR REHABILITATION OF DISABLED PERSONS
Press Release
H/2895
CONCERN EXPRESSED AT WHO MEETING OVER DECLINING RESOURCES FOR REHABILITATION OF DISABLED PERSONS
19960130 GENEVA, 30 January (WHO) -- A prominent activist of the disabled people's movement, Sweden's former Minister for Social Affairs and, until last month, member of Parliament Bengt Lindqvist, has expressed concern over shrinking international funds for rehabilitation programmes worldwide.Mr. Lindqvist, now Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission for Social Development on Disability, spoke last week at a meeting of representatives of leading international disabled persons' organizations with the Director- General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima. The group included representatives of Disabled People's International, the World Blind Union, the World Federation of the Deaf, inclusion International and Rehabilitation International.
On behalf of the group, the former Swedish parliamentarian, himself a blind person, expressed the growing concern of the disability community worldwide over dwindling resources for international programmes aimed at the medical and social rehabilitation of disabled people. Stressing the importance of international work in this area, he said that governments must ensure that such programmes continue.
Mr. Lindqvist stressed that, in comparison with other citizens, disabled persons had a lower level of education, lower income and higher rates of unemployment. They are being unjustifiably marginalized in all societies. He called it "a moral obligation of the international community" to improve the plight of the disabled through their "rehabilitation, education, employment and meaningful integration into the economic and social life of society". Mr. Lindqvist also thanked the WHO for the unfailing assistance it has been providing to disabled persons throughout the world by promoting their rehabilitation and the prevention of disability.
A WHO-developed concept of community-based rehabilitation has gained wide recognition both nationally and internationally. Viewed as an effective strategy to provide rehabilitation and facilitate social integration of all people with disabilities, this concept is being implemented in many countries by national authorities in cooperation with disabled persons' organizations, international non-governmental organizations and other United Nations agencies.
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The WHO's Director-General assured the group that, by virtue of its health objectives, the WHO would continue to do its best to promote the human rights of disabled persons within the mandate of the organization and available resources.
Dr. Nakajima also emphasized the importance of increased extrabudgetary funding for international rehabilitation programmes and expressed his appreciation of the financial support being provided to such programmes by governments, especially by the Government of Sweden. "It is, first and foremost, disabled persons who benefit from such support", he said.
The WHO estimates that around 370 million people, or 7 per cent of the world's population, has some kind of disability. Worldwide, 80 million people require rehabilitation services. No more than 10 per cent of disabled people have access to such services in developing countries.
Experts also predict that the number of disabled persons worldwide will increase because of a number of factors, including ever-growing poverty, armed conflicts and their consequences, and urbanization. Thanks to the advances of medical science more and more people, especially children, will be able to survive the onslaught of disease, but some will remain disabled.
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