From: Arlette.Lefebvre@f24.n3602.z1.fidonet.org (Arlette Lefebvre)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Liberty,equality and ??
Date: 9 Sep 92 16:46:12 GMT
Reply-To: Arlette.Lefebvre@f24.n3602.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:3602/24 - ADAnet One (tm) Net, Pinson AL

Index Number: 22433

        LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND DISABILITY _ THE FACTS:
        ############################################@

The following statistics were taken, with permission, from the July
1992 issue of the New Internationalist Magazine devoted to
"Disabled Lives: Difference and Defiance".(Thanks to our own Lorna
Renooy, of AboutFace, who sent it to me in a TLC enveloppe!)

The Editor of this special issue is Vanessa Baird, and the
editorial and advertising office of this publication is located at
11o1 Bloor St West, Toronto, Ontario M6H 1M1. Tel.: 588-6478.

In the US, try: PO Box 1143, Lewiston, NY 14092.

         ---------------------------------------

NUMBERS:

   * 500 million people in the world are disabled- roughly ONE
     in TEN.
   * 300 million live in developing countries.
   * 140 million are children.
   * 160 million are women. (1)

CAUSES:

   * Over 100 million people are currently disabled as a result
     of malnutrition- that's ONE in FIVE. (2)
   * Iron deficiency, anemia and chronic infections of the
     pelvis are major causes of disability of women in poor
     countries. The latter is often caused by female circumcision-
     which affects at least 80 million young girls and women- and
     early pregnancy. (2)
   * A handful of green vegetables every day would be enough to
     save the eyesight of 250,000 children who go blind every year
     because their diets lack Vitamin A. (2)
   * Lack of Iodine is the chief cause of preventable
     intellectual disability in the world. It is estimated that about
     800 million are at risk, mostly in Asia. (2)
   * War and violence cause disability as well. An estimated
     100,000 Cambodians have become disabled as a result of
     landmines. Between 300-500 people become amputees each
     month.(3)

POVERTY:

   * Most people with spinal cord injuries in Third World
     countries die within two years of becoming disabled due to lack
     of facilities. (4)
   * 80 per cent of disabled people live in Asia and the
     Pacific, but they receive just two per cent of the resources
     allocated to disabled people. (5)
   * In the US and UK over 60 per cent of disabled people live
     below the poverty line. (6,7)
   * The cost of living for a disabled person living in the West
     is estimated at $100 more per week than for a non-disabled
     person. (8)

EDUCATION AND WORK:

   * In the UK only 0.3 per cent of higher-education students
     are disabled although disabled people are 10 per cent of
     the total population. (6)
   * Disabled people in the US and the UK are three times more
     likely to be unemployed then any other group. (6,7)
   * Disabled women are doubly disadvantaged. The figures
     in all categories are much worse.

RIGHTS:

   * Only ONE COUNTRY in the world has anti-discrimination
     legislation- The United States which, in July 1990 passed
     The American with Disabilities Act.
   * Human Rights charters for disabled people exist in Canada,
     Sweden and some states in Australia.

               A bientot, I hope...?

                                               Docteur Froggie.
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