As part of the International Day of Disabled Persons, 3 December, the World Health Organization (WHO) is launching Rethinking Care from the Perspective of Disabled People, a new report that offers personal testimonies of disabled people about their view of health care and what should be done to improve their quality of life. Giving voice to disabled people in both high- and low-income countries, the report contributes to an ongoing process of evaluation from the point of view of those most affected.

In general, disabled people featured in the report speak of a new, unconventional approach to their health care. According to the report, "Health and rehabilitation can no longer be understood solely in terms of medical interventions and conventional notions of ‘care’," which narrowly focus on the limitations of disabled people, rather than societies’ inability to accommodate people of different needs and abilities.

In particular, they call for emergency services in crisis situations, such as wars, floods, and earthquakes, that are appropriate for disabled people. They also stressed the need for anti-discrimination laws for the systematic removal of environmental and cultural barriers for disabled people. The provision of support services, including appropriate technical aids, interpreters for deaf people and personal assistance services, was also underlined.

The report is the result of a global consultation with disabled people and field experts sponsored by WHO earlier this year. In 1993, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted 22 Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Four of the rules fall under WHO’s mandate: medical care, rehabilitation, support services and awareness-raising. With respect to these rules, disabled people pointed out a wide range of recommendations that could help WHO Member States establish tailored yet comprehensive health policies.

A sample of some of the testimonies included in the report:

"We (disabled people) have to gain control of our own lives, our own physical rehabilitation, our own personal assistance" (Belgium).

"Women with disabilities are deprived of the rights to motherhood... As the medical profession does not think that women with disabilities should enjoy equal rights with their counterparts, in terms of rights to motherhood, women with disabilities are asked not to bear children when they get married...I told them that we should make our own choices. The fact is that I am now a mother of two children." (China).

"...on the day of discharge I was given a wheelchair, which I have never used before...the people who had taken care of me for three months were not even able to look me in the eye and tell me what to expect. They did not ask me about the accessibility of my home and my support system..." (South Africa).

"The experience of people with psychiatric disabilities in ‘care’ mirrors the experience of other disabled people. We share most issues in common. However, people with psychiatric disabilities experience more stigma, discrimination and social exclusion than most other disability groups. They experience more state-imposed forced treatment and detention than other disability groups." (New Zealand).

"I can feel the pain of many parents of children with disabilities, with health problems and considerable limitations such that they simply lower their heads when they confront poor education or health services and discriminatory and undervalued attitudes..." (Mexico).