The spread of awareness of invisible disabilities, with harmful, and not always readily apparent, health effects, is vital to removing exclusions and reducing inequalities, says the Cyprus Federation of Patients' Associations (CPA) in a message on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was established in 1992 by a resolution of the UN General Assembly and is commemorated every year on 3 December.
In a press release, the OASA states that the choice of this date is linked to the adoption by the international organization on 3 December 1982 of the Programme of Action on Disabled Persons, which on 30 March 2007 led to the signing of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is noted that Cyprus ratified the Convention in 2011 and Greece in 2012.
Every year, it is said, this day provides another opportunity for society to focus its attention on the rights and potential of persons with disabilities, thus improving their quality of life and implementing reforms that will develop new prospects for their social inclusion.
Every year, it is said, this day provides another opportunity for society to focus its attention on the rights and potential of persons with disabilities, thus improving their quality of life and implementing reforms that will develop new prospects for their social inclusion.
"It aims to promote understanding on disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to draw attention to the fact that the benefits of including people with disabilities in every aspect of life are global and affect us all," says the OASC.
It notes that, about 15% of the world's population, or one billion people, live with disabilities while, often, "we are unaware of the large number of our fellow citizens who live with disabilities and the challenges they face."
The lack of attention to the needs of people with disabilities means that they find barriers at every turn of their lives, it says.
"They face stigma and discrimination, lack of appropriate medical care and rehabilitation services, lack of access to transport, buildings and information," it adds.
The OASC says that, the World Health Organization report recommends that governments and partners provide access to all essential services to persons with disabilities, invest in specific programmes for persons with disabilities in need, and adopt national strategies and action plans. For the design and implementation of these initiatives, the participation of persons with disabilities themselves is necessary, it adds.
"The effort to achieve independence and social inclusion of persons with disabilities remains an ongoing process that involves a holistic approach where accessibility to goods and services will be promoted by the state but also by civil society, institutions and businesses", it says.
It is noted that employment rates for people with disabilities, across Europe, "remain low, showing that there is a long road ahead, which certainly involves changing attitudes but above all modifying, creating a regulatory framework that will stimulate the right to work". It adds that, within a landscape of disability rights protection, inequality is reproduced even for some invisible categories of disability.
In conclusion, the OASC says that spreading awareness of invisible disabilities, with harmful - and not always immediately obvious - health effects, is crucial to removing exclusions and reducing inequalities.
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