Integral to inclusion: amplifying public health leaders with disabilities
Authors: Sara Rotenberg
Journal: The Lancet Public Health (2021)

The Lancet Public Health and Bonnielin Swenor brilliantly highlighted the urgent need for greater disability inclusion.1The Lancet Public HealthDisability—a neglected issue in public health.Lancet Public Health. 2021; 6: e346Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar, 2Swenor BK Including disability in all health equity efforts: an urgent call to action.Lancet Public Health. 2021; 6: e359-e360Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar These excellent pieces add to the symphony of other advocates with disabilities and allies' voices who are hoping to catalyse efforts for disability inclusion in a post-pandemic world.3Nagesh S Rotenberg S A new era of accessibility: on persons with disabilities in the post-COVID world. The Hindu (Chennai).https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-new-era-of-accessibility/article31948035.eceDate: June 30, 2020Date accessed: June 1, 2021Google Scholar, 4Shakespeare T Ndagire F Seketi QE Triple jeopardy: disabled people and the COVID-19 pandemic.Lancet. 2021; 397: 1331-1333Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar However, calls for better data, inclusion, and representation have periodically graced the pages of top-tier medical journals, alongside studies revealing damming disparities for people with disabilities for years.5The LancetPrioritising disability in universal health coverage.Lancet. 2019; 394: 187Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (12) Google Scholar Despite growing evidence of inequity and tenacious advocacy, there are substantial gaps in meaningful inclusion and health equity for people with disabilities. Swenor highlights how including researchers with disabilities "enriches our public health efforts and expands our research focus".2Swenor BK Including disability in all health equity efforts: an urgent call to action.Lancet Public Health. 2021; 6: e359-e360Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar However, more public health and medical leaders with disabilities who can forge a new era of disability inclusion in public health are ultimately needed. Equally, medical and public health professional schools, journals' editorial boards, and health policy makers need to make open, measurable commitments to ensuring representation of people with disabilities, similar to how we report on gender parity, diversity, and other forms of representation. These commitments, along with strengthening data and monitoring, health worker training, and other equity efforts, can provide a framework for more inclusive health systems. Without a multipronged approach to disability inclusion that emphasises amplifying people with disabilities in health leadership, there is a risk of perpetuating inequity or stalling necessary progress in this potentially pivotal moment. "Nothing about us, without us" should be more than words, but a prompt to start conversations about disability representation in public health decision making. I declare no competing interests. Including disability in all health equity efforts: an urgent call to actionGlobally, over 1 billion, or one in seven people, have a disability.1 This estimate highlights that the disability community is one of the largest minority groups in the world, and people with disabilities are part of all of our communities. Full-Text PDF Open AccessDisability—a neglected issue in public healthMore than 1 billion people, around 15% of the global population, have some form of disability . Disabilities include long-term sensory, mental, intellectual, or physical impairments that can impact people's daily lives, health care, and support needs. The prevalence of disabilities will most certainly increase substantially in the coming decades as the global population ages. Nonetheless, people with disabilities are often neglected by health systems and experience profound inequalities in health and wellbeing outcomes. Full-Text PDF Open Access