CUBA, January 9, 2007.- The International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty adopted during the 21st Century, was approved by 192 United Nations member nations last December. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 650 million persons or 10 percent of the world's total population live with some kind of disability. The purpose of the Convention is to promote, protect and guarantee that those persons fully enjoy all human rights including: accessibility, freedom of movement, health, education, training, employment, recreation and rehabilitation, as well as participation in the political, cultural and sports activities. The document recognizes disability as a concept in evolution, a result of the interaction between the deficiencies of a person —physical, mental, intellectual or sensory— and the obstacles that range from construction barriers to attitudes that prevent full integration in society. According to comparative research, only 45 nations have legal frameworks aimed at fighting discriminatory practices that provoke social marginalization of individuals with disabilities. For that reason an international standard is required, aimed at assuring that these people’s rights are guaranteed on a worldwide scale. The recently adopted treaty will be open for signing and subject to ratification by the United Nations member states. It will enter into effect once it is ratified by twenty nations. Treatment of people with disabilities in Cuba In Cuba there is different legislation on topics like employment, education, social security, health and accessibility, in which the rights and benefits of persons with disabilities are taken into account. Others are now in the process, such as a new project that comes under the Family Code, which includes a chapter about the obligations of the family towards members with some type of disability. The achievements along this line are in part due to the application of a social policy whereby the State is the institution with the main responsibility. In its implementation, several organizations participate in a coordinated way, and the three main organizations of persons with disabilities intervene. These are the Association of People with Physical and Motor Disabilities (ACLIFIM), the National Association of the Blind (ANCI) and the National Association of the Deaf (ANSOC). Also, a national working group was created ten years ago, under the name National Council for the Attention of Persons with Disabilities (CONAPED). In 2003, two studies were concluded that looked at a total of 366,864 persons with disabilities of all types. The two studies were: Psychosocial involving persons with physical disabilities, and the other Psycho pedagogic, involving persons with intellectual disabilities. The research not only made it possible to typify the population with disabilities providing important information for the prevention programs, but also contributed to identify individual needs, provide strategies aiming at solving them and raise their quality of life. When evaluating the impact of the 2001-2005 National Action Plan for the attention of persons with disabilities, Yusimi Campos Suarez, director of Social Security of the Ministry of Labor, highlighted the increase in the number of health programs aimed at that this segment of the population. During that period the National Center of Technical Orthopedics was created with a network of 38 centers, (laboratories and workshops for orthopedic footwear and other apparatuses), 31,490 wheelchairs were distributed and a total of 21,264 hearing aids were imported, figures that are still not enough to fulfill the needs, but that represent 8,250 and 13,294 more units respectively, compared to those available during the previous five years. In addition, 28,650 persons with disabilities were recently employed, and 7,238 others received computer training at Community Computer Clubs. The National Group of the Sports Institute for the attention of persons with disabilities was created and centers for facilitating communications between persons with speech and hearing disabilities were created by the national telecommunications services provider ETECSA, using special equipment and training. Cuban television also introduced the used of the closed caption technology to add text to the screen for persons with hearing disabilities. By Lourdes Pérez Navarro (Cubaminrex-Granma)
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