World Report on Disability

FOCUS

The World Report on Disability was jointly published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank in 2011. It was aimed to present a comprehensive global assessment of disability prevalence, lived experiences, and systemic barriers affecting persons with disabilities worldwide.

Drawing primarily on the World Health Survey (2002–2004) and the Global Burden of Disease study (2004), the report estimates that more than one billion people – around 15 per cent of the global population in 2011– lived with some form of disability, a higher proportion than earlier WHO estimates from the 1970s.

The report situates disability as an outcome of the interaction between health conditions and environmental factors, emphasising that social, economic, and physical barriers often play a greater role in exclusion than impairments alone. Persons with disabilities are more likely to be denied access to healthcare, employment, education, or political participation; they are more likely to be subjected to violence; they are also denied autonomy over their own bodies and rights. It finds that disability prevalence is higher in low- and middle-income countries, where poverty, conflict, unsafe environments, population ageing, and limited health services increase both the risk of impairment and the impact of disabling barriers.

Highlighting major gaps in disability data, the report notes that many developing countries rely on narrow survey questions focused on visible impairments. This leads to underestimation of disability prevalence.

The 350-page report is divided into nine chapters: Understanding Disability (Chapter 1); Disability – a global picture (Chapter 2); General health care (Chapter 3); Rehabilitation (Chapter 4); Assistance and support (Chapter 5); Enabling environments (Chapter 6); Education (Chapter 7); Work and employment (Chapter 8); and The way forward: recommendations (Chapter 9).

    FACTOIDS

  1. The report finds that people with disabilities experience consistently poorer health outcomes than non-disabled populations. This is partly because health systems in many low- and middle-income countries fail to provide accessible and appropriate care.

  2. In places with low-resources, people with disabilities are more likely to be excluded from preventive and primary health services due to cost, physical inaccessibility, and negative attitudes among health providers.

  3. The report notes that limited availability of trained rehabilitation professionals and services in low- and middle-income countries restricts people’s ability to participate fully in social and economic life.

  4. Across the world, most assistance and support for persons with disabilities is provided informally by families or social networks. Formal services remain limited, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, resulting in substantial unmet support needs.

  5. Where formal assistance and support services exist, they are often constrained by weak state provision, limited reach of not-for-profit organisations, and inadequate private services.

  6. Accessibility improves most when governments and independent organisations collaborate to incrementally remove basic environmental barriers and integrate accessibility into the design of public spaces, transport systems, and information and communication technologies.

  7. Children with disabilities are significantly less likely to enter school, remain enrolled, or be promoted than their non-disabled peers, limiting their long-term participation in social and economic life. The report states that inclusive education in mainstream schools is both cost-effective and socially inclusive than segregated special schools. It also helps children with disabilities remain connected to their families and communities.

  8. Exclusion of persons with disabilities from employment is driven less by individual capacity and more by structural barriers, the report says. Limited access to education and vocational training, inaccessible workplaces, disincentives within disability benefit systems, and persistent negative employer attitudes keep people away from employment opportunities.

  9. The report emphasises that inclusion is not only a policy level responsibility. Its success can be directed by the active participation of disabled people, families, communities, and employers in challenging stigma, monitoring services, removing barriers, and shaping research and decision-making.


    Focus and Factoids by Anugraha Hadke.


    PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.

AUTHOR

World Health Organization

COPYRIGHT

World Health Organization

PUBLICATION DATE

2011

TAGS

#health #disability

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