Disability Statistics: a Regional
Perspective for SAARC
Dr. S. K. Nath
DG, CSO, India
Disability Statistics
Not well developed and utilized as
compared to statistics for labour force,
education, gender, the elderly, etc.
Efforts to develop conceptual model for
data to meet policy needs are very recent
phenomena in international arena
Standardization driven statistical framework
is non-existent in SAARC countries
Addressing the Concerns: Global
World programme of Action Concerning
Disabled Persons (1982)
Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
(1993)
Disability specific human rights treaty – the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities and its Optional Protocol (2006)
Addressing the Concerns:
Regional (ESCAP)
Biwako Millennium Framework for Action
towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights
based society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia
and the Pacific (BMF)
Regional Policy Guideline for the Second Asian
and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons
Biwako plus Five, the supplement to the BMF
Addressing the Concerns:
SAARC
Disability not given due recognition in SAARC
processes
For the first time, NCCs under the framework for
action in implementation of SAARC Social
Charter identified Disability statistics as an area of
regional cooperation in 2007
Instrument of SAARC-STAT can take on the issue
of developing the conceptual framework for
disability statistics in the region
Traditional Concept
Counting the persons with certain impairment e.g.
The blind
The deaf
The dumb
Or with certain infirmities related to loco motor or
mental/psychological disorders
To determine who qualifies for benefits  to
serve a limited purpose for a fragment of the
whole
Disability Statistics based on
Traditional Concept
A number of countries in the region have
conducted disability surveys or included disability
questions in their censuses ( in traditional way)
Results only showed abysmally low incidence of
disability as compared to some developed
countries which followed modern disability
framework
‘Fitness for Purpose’ of these data is what is
questioned
Dimensions of Disability
Depend on purposes:
For disfunction of mental, perceptual,voice and speech
or organ systems we need ‘impairment data’
For disfunction of mobility, communication, self-care
and interpersonal relations we need ‘activity limitation
data’
For inability to perform certain social chores due to
physical, built or interpersonal features we need
‘participation restrictions data’
Purposes of data
To assist in the development and evaluation
of programmes and policies for providing
service
To monitor the level of functioning in the
population, and
To assess equalization of opportunities
Washington Group
Formed in 2001 the Group worked on
important methodological issues for
improving disability data
Primary task of the group is to come up
with general disability questions that can be
used in censuses and national surveys
Need for a conceptual framework
All international and regional reports on
disability statistics agreed that there is a
need for a scientific conceptual framework
for gathering information on disability with
uniform standards
WHO’s “International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)” is
response to this need
ICF framework
Disability concept in ICF recognizes:
Disability is multidimensional
It is product of interaction between ‘a person's certain
conditions’ and ‘ his or her physical, social and
attitudinal barriers’
Bio-psychological model embedded in ICF broadens
the perspective of disability allowing for medical, social
and environmental factors of measuring disability
Classifies under (I) Body functions & Structures and
(II) Activities & Participation for WHO recommended
item pool
ICF in SAARC context
Countries in SAARC are developing
economies with impediments to carry out
expensive surveys based on scientific norms
as meticulous as of ICF
ICF questionnaire is difficult to canvas in
census or surveys for large section of
illiterate and backward population in
SAARC countries
SAARC Framework for
Disability Statistics
There is a need to recognize weaknesses of
Disability Statistics generated in SAARC
countries through traditional concepts
There is also a need to appreciate international
concerns for disability and the strong points of
BMF and ICF
Given the flexibility of ICF, there is a need to
develop a practicable statistical framework of
disability data for SAARC countries considering
the ground reality, policy needs and purposes
Role of SAARC-STAT for DS
India has already offered to take up the
responsibility for providing a framework for
disability statistics as part of the
implementation of SAARC Social Charter
A Technical Working Group under the
SAARC-STAT mechanism may be
constituted to examine and finalize the
framework
Dhanyabad
Thanks