WHA66: Item 13.5 Disability

13.5 Disability

Background

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on May 3, 2008.

WHO and World Bank collaborated in producing the World Report on Disability in 2011. The World Report drew on work underway since 2001 on definitions and data collections by the Washington Group.

See the Disabilities and Rehabilitation page on the WHO website for summary of WHO work in this field.

EB132 considered this issue in January 2013 and adopted EB132.R5. The Secretariat has prepared A66/12 for the consideration of the member states and the EB invites the WHA to adopt EB132.R5.

PHM position

The Assembly is asked to endorse the recommendations of the World Report on Disability and to support its implementation. 

A decision to support this resolution would contribute to the progressive realisation of the rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Most significantly, it would pave the way for a disability inclusive development agenda within the post 2015 development agenda.

PHM supports  the recommendations of the World Report on Disability and to seek that the recommendations be upheld as stated in the Report.

In particular, in relation to A66/12 section 16 page 6 and section 22 page 7, PHM supports inclusion of a disability module in existing surveys while highlighting the cost burden and limited use of dedicated surveys as they are often one-off or discontinued. The recommendations of the World Report on Disability should be realised in the development of the model disability survey.