Disability is running rampant on our planet. Eighty percent of these most vulnerable persons live in the developing world and thus are doubly disadvantaged by disability and poverty. Counting our family members who also cope with disability on a daily basis we comprise a fifth of the world's population. The numbers are increasing dramatically, not only from population growth and medical advances that preserve and prolong life, but from wars, land mines, accidents, violence, malnutrition, birth defects, substance abuse and environmental damage.
Disability knows no political boundaries.
Anyone can join the disability community in an instant. No one is immune. Prejudice and ignorance doom many of the world's disabled to a life of hopelessness. Many are ostracized by society. And for many, disability is death denied.