The task of addressing the status of PWDs today abounds with many situations and challenges. The sizeable proportion of PWDs in the population is becoming a cause for concern. The 2010 population Census has revealed that persons with disabilities account for approximately 12% of the nation’s population. The cause of disability ranges from hereditary/biological to accidents. Vehicular accidents, to the person’ crimes, ‘harm occupational hazards and physical abuse are becoming the major contributors to several forms of disability chief among which is physical disability. It is noteworthy that as the population grows older, many impairments are also related to ageing. Several implications emerge from these trends in the face of an already resource constrained environment. The demand for treatment and rehabilitation and unencumbered participation in all spheres of life of the society through equal opportunity will increase as more PWDs are empowered with rights and responsibilities. More financial, personnel and other relevant resources will be required to supply the treatment and rehabilitative services, as well as the assistive technologies and other enabling environments for PWDs. Increasing emphasis will have to be placed on prevention thus making an additional call on available financial and other types of resources. Priority setting will have to be informed by robust evidenced-based research in order to enhance the significance of this important dimension of human
The task of addressing the status of PWDs today abounds with many situations and challenges. The sizeable proportion of PWDs in the population is becoming a cause for concern. The 2010 population Census has revealed that persons with disabilities account for approximately 12% of the nation’s population. The cause of disability ranges from hereditary/biological to accidents. Vehicular accidents, ‘harm to the person’ crimes, occupational hazards and physical abuse are becoming the major contributors to several forms of disability chief among which is physical disability. It is noteworthy that as the population grows older, many impairments are also related to ageing. Several implications emerge from these trends in the face of an already resource constrained environment. The demand for treatment and rehabilitation and unencumbered participation in all spheres of life of the society through equal opportunity will increase as more PWDs are empowered with rights and responsibilities. More financial, personnel and other relevant resources will be required to supply the treatment and rehabilitative services, as well as the assistive technologies and other enabling environments for PWDs. Increasing emphasis will have to be placed on prevention thus making an additional call on available financial and other types of resources. Priority setting will have to be informed by robust evidenced-based research in order to enhance the significance of this important dimension of human
CSOs%20-%20NCPWD_Sta_Lucia_ENG.docx