National Day for the Physically Disabled is celebrated annually on October 11th. The date was established to promote awareness in society about actions and policies that should be implemented to guarantee the quality of life and the promotion of the rights of the physically disabled. The date also encourages awareness about the importance of developing means of including people with disabilities in society.
Prejudice and public inaccessibility are also two central points to be debated, which are responsible for making life difficult for these people. O IBGE indicates that the proportion of people with disabilities in the Brazilian population is 6.7%.
According to WHO, 1 billion people live with some kind of disability – this means one in every seven people in the world. The UN warns that 801,000,000 people living with a disability live in developing countries. In total, 150 million children (under 18 years of age) have some kind of disability, according to UNICEF.
According to the UN, people with disabilities face more difficulties. The cost of living increases by about a third of income, on average. Completing primary school is also a greater challenge for children with disabilities: while 60% of these children complete this stage of their studies in developed countries, only 45% (boys) and 32% (girls) complete primary school in developing countries.
More than 501,000 people with disabilities cannot afford health care. Check out all the statistics by clicking here and here. Around 301,000 street children have some kind of disability, and in developing countries 901,000 children with disabilities do not attend school.
It is everyone's duty to strive for a society in which people with some type of disability are included without any demerit or prejudice due to their condition. Much still needs to be done to ensure that people with disabilities have access to opportunities, accessibility and mobility. It is necessary to ensure policies that ensure the rights of the physically disabled.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The United Nations (UN) established the International Day of Persons with Disabilities worldwide, celebrated annually on December 3 since 1992.
Image credits: UN
