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This report describes the findings of a rapid assessment of avoidable blindness (RAAB) conducted in Muchinga Province, Zambia in 2017.

The prevalence of blindness was just over 4% and the major cause was cataract, followed by glaucoma. Only 37% of people who require cataract surgery have received it, meaning there is an urgent need to scale up access to cataract surgical services in the province.

In addition to the standard RAAB questionnaire, an additional two sets of questions were administered to the participants to understand their disability and socioeconomic status: the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability (WGSS) and the Equity Tool (ET)

This article presents the results of a survey on personal assistance (PA) for disabled people, conducted among PA users and members of the independent living movement in Europe. The survey was developed and implemented in the spirit of emancipatory disability research, and was informed by the social model of disability and the independent living philosophy. Participants were asked to assess a series of characteristics of PA in terms of their impact on users’ choice and control. Their responses help identify which characteristics of PA are considered to be enablers of choice and control, which characteristics are perceived as barriers and which characteristics elicit disagreement or lack of consensus among PA users and members of the independent living movement in Europe. Plans for using the results of the survey to develop a tool for evaluating PA schemes are also discussed.

Purpose: This is a survey of peer-reviewed articles focussed on the causes and consequences of stigma towards persons with physical disability in Ghana.

Method: After a systematic search of the online databases EBSCOhost, ProQuest, PubMEd and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles on disability in Ghana, 26 articles were chosen for critical review.  The three main selection criteria were: the articles had to be peer-reviewed, they had to be based on interviews with Ghanaians in the field, and they had to discuss stigma and human rights.  For analysis, the content of the articles was grouped under two sections: major themes (human rights, causes of stigma, consequences of stigma) and policy recommendations (economics, medical services/healthcare, affirmative action, attitudes and awareness-raising, inclusion of cultural beliefs).

Results:   This review found that most of the studies attribute stigma to negative attitudes towards Ghanaians with disability, and many highlight beliefs among Ghanaians that disability is caused by spiritual and supernatural forces. The consequences, according to most authors, are social, economic and political exclusion. Policy recommendations include improving government policy, increasing funding for disability programmes, changing public attitudes, and paying attention to Ghanaian culture and tradition in designing disability interventions. While these are valid points, the authors of this paper are of the opinion that the literature also suffers from lack of a deep understanding of the historical and socio-cultural roots of supernatural beliefs in Ghana.

Conclusion: The 26 studies discussed in this review show that since 2006 very good work has been produced on disability in Ghana, especially by Ghanaian disability scholars.

It is hypothesised, however, that a full understanding of disability and stigma in Ghana must be based on deeper research into the roots of the beliefs that drive stigma.  Future work therefore should focus on deepening the analysis of cultural beliefs towards disability in Ghana, in order to understand fully the roots of culturally-based disability stigma. More research into the economic causes and consequences of disability is also recommended, without which a full analysis of cultural stigma will not be possible.

Handicap International (HI) commissioned a study on on explosive hazard victim reporting and data management processes in Iraq. The overall objectives of the study were to:

• Understand what explosive hazard victim reporting and data management processes exist in Iraq;
• Identify who is collecting such information, for which reasons and how it is being shared, and how it is being officially used;
• Identify whether international victim data collection good practices and reporting standards are being followed up, and make concrete recommendations to help meet the standards;
• Understand the successes, shortfalls, and challenges in data collection and information sharing;
• Identify the needs of the data collection community in terms of ensuring sufficient victim reporting and data collection;
• Identify if and how the data on victims is being collected and used by government authorities and the international fora.

Desk research was carried out and data collection took place in March 2019 in Erbil, Baghdad and Ninewa governorates in Iraq. In total, the qualitative researcher spent 3 days in Erbil, 4 days in Baghdad, and 6 days in Ninewa governorate to conduct interviews through a snowball approach. In total, 22 interviews were conducted with a variety of stakeholders, including humanitarian mine action actors, government officials, hospital directors, police and community leaders. This report provides an overview of the main findings.

To learn more about the current status of IECD (inclusive early childhood development) and ECI (early childhood intervention) programs, three international organizations collaborated to conduct a global survey: RISE Institute; UNICEF; and the Early Childhood Development Task Force (ECDtf), which is within the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities (GPcwd). This large survey was designed in 2016, was conducted in 2017, and the report was prepared in 2018.

The main objectives of the survey were to:

• Map current implementation of IECD and ECI programs and related activities;
• Describe key IECD and ECI program features;
• Identify gaps and challenges in providing accessible IECD and ECI services;
• Document factors associated with successful implementation and scale-up;
• Generate recommendations to inform future policy and program development and national planning and implementation efforts.

The online survey targeted a range of programs, and activities including IECD and ECI services; rehabilitation and habilitation services; humanitarian, emergency, and child Global Survey of Inclusive ECD and ECI Programs 8 protection services; advocacy campaigns; and research and evaluation projects. 

Program respondents provided information on 426 programs that were implemented in 121 countries. 

Purpose: To investigate outdoor mobility of immigrants in Sweden who are living with the late effects of polio.

Materials and methods: A total of 145 patients with late effects of polio born outside the Nordic region were identified at an outpatient polio clinic. Of these, 74 completed a questionnaire about their mobility and independence in daily life, self-perceived pain and depression, vocational status, mobility assistive devices/aids, transportation modes and driving. Patient characteristics were based on medical records supplied by physicians.

Results: Twice as many patients had lower extremities that were affected by polio than upper extremities. This affected their use of different transport modes and caused mobility and transfer problems. Indeed, 39% needed mobility aids and help from another person to move outdoors. Those who reported dependence for outdoor mobility were more often unemployed and more often depressed.

Conclusions: Many respondents reported having difficulties with transport mobility, but a large proportion, 57%, were independent and active drivers. It is important to consider outdoor mobility when planning rehabilitation for patients with late effects of polio and foreign backgrounds. In addition to psychosocial factors, dependence on mobility-related activities can lead to dependency and isolation.

Purpose: This survey aimed to assess the baseline level of access to social institutions, utilisation of civil facilities and participation in empowerment schemes by people with disabilities in Amravati district of Maharashtra State, India.

Method: Sixty villages from two blocks in Amravati district were randomly selected for the survey. From these villages, 522 households were sampled and 3056 individuals were surveyed. Interviews were conducted with 590 individuals with disability from among the surveyed population. The structured interview schedule consisted of demographic data, access to social organisations, utilisation of civil services, and participation in empowerment schemes. 

Results: Locomotor disability was the most prevalent (44.6%) type of disability in the study area. Disabilities were more often present among male adolescents and young adults than among the older population and females. Over 50% of the study participants had no occupation (including children and students) and had not been to school. Only 48% had achieved secondary education and more. The proportion of disability among people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was considerably higher than among the general population. Access to social institutions was less than 50% for most of the items, and was even lower among females. Except for the ration card and Aadhar card, civil services were generally under-utilised by people with disability. Only 3.2% of the participants were members of self-help groups, and not a single person was a member of the Disabled People’s Organisation.

Conclusions:  In the study area access to social institutions, utilisation of civil services and participation in empowerment schemes was very low.

Limitations: Data, including general socio-demographic, access and utility data, was not collected for the general population but was limited to people with disabilities. This restricted the scope for comparison between people with and without disabilities.

Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, Vol 30, No 1 (2019)

Exclusion of children with a disability from education negatively affects national economic growth. Education is important for children with a disability to acquire skills that allow them to gain employment, and thus address a key driver of poverty. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 to better understand the relationship between disability, education and health among children in India. Across 17 states in India, the study sample included 39,723 households with a child aged 0-59 months (163,400 individual cases in total), based on randomised cluster sampling methodology. Key outcomes of interest were school attendance, completion of early childhood education and highest level of education. The study found one percent prevalence of disability, nearly double among boys (1.38%) compared to girls (0.77%), and linked disability to lower level access to education and highest level of education. This study confirms the negative relationship between disability and educational exposure among children, and highlights that India’s efforts to make education a fundamental right of every child have not yet translated to benefits for children with a disability. There remains a pressing need for well-designed longitudinal studies that capture the barriers and protective factors of school attendance at every transition between stages of schooling in children with a disability.

Disability and the Global South, 2019, Vol.6, No. 2

Purpose: Stigmatisation can negatively affect opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to participate in society. Stereotyping, a first step in the process of stigmatisation, has been insufficiently explored for people with intellectual disabilities. This study examined the general public’s set of stereotypes that is saliently attributed to people with intellectual disabilities as well as the relationship of these stereotypes with discriminatory intentions and familiarity.

Materials and methods: A mixed-method cross-sectional survey within a representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 892) was used. Stereotypes were analysed with factor analysis of a trait-rating scale, and qualitative analysis of an open-ended question. The relationship between stereotypes and discrimination as well as familiarity with people with intellectual disabilities was explored through multivariate analyses.

Results and conclusions: Four stereotype-factors appeared: “friendly”, “in need of help”, “unintelligent”, and “nuisance”. Stereotypes in the “nuisance” factor seemed unimportant due to their infrequent report in the open-ended question. “Friendly”, “in need of help”, “unintelligent” were found to be salient stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities due to their frequent report. The stereotypes did not relate to high levels of explicit discrimination. Yet due to the both positive and negative valence of the stereotypes, subtle forms of discrimination may be expected such as limited opportunities for choice and self-determination. This may affect opportunities for rehabilitation and might be challenged by protest-components within anti-stigma efforts.