Speakers at different functions held in connection with the 'International Day of Disabled Persons' have called for taking immediate steps for rehabilitation and economic wellbeing of disables so that they could feel themselves as a part of the society instead a burden.
To mark the day observed here on Saturday like other parts of the world with the theme of "Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Action in Development" various organisations organised walks, seminars and other functions, the participants renewed their pledge of giving due status, rights and facilities to the disables, apart from bringing them into the social and economic mainstream.
NGOs-Milestone Society for the Special Education and Disabled Persons International held a joint meeting in which speakers including Dr Khalid Jamil, Shafiq ur Rehman, Mian Asim Zafar and Atif Raza urged the government to provide jobs to disables in government departments by implementing quota of 2-percent reserved for them.
They also urged the government to restore the facility of duty free import of vehicles by the disables.
The meeting also demanded inclusive education for special children and free provision of wheel chairs to disabled persons.
Lahore Businessman Association for the Rehabilitation of Disabled (Labard) also organised a function to mark the day in which the speakers vowed to provide educational and vocational training and employment to the disabled.
Meanwhile ophthalmologists told Business Recorder that Pakistan falls into the World Health Organisation's 'most severe' category, with over 1 percent of the population blind. Among the blind people in Pakistan, most of them are blind because they were unable to access the treatments which could have prevented or cured their loss of sight.
They said that blindness virtually incapacitates a person and results in millions of Disability Affected Life Years (DALYs) globally, yet the greater part of the problem is preventable at a very low cost.
They said that disability causes huge burden on economy. 'In developing countries like Pakistan, where the rate of unemployment and under-employment is high, and resources are scarce, the scope of preventing or curing, either partially or fully, and educating, training and rehabilitating the disabled is limited.
A physical impairment may lead to emotional distress which, in turn results in impairment in mental abilities, they said.
Moreover, in another function organised by NGO Flame, speakers including Dr Sheharyar Bhatti, Dr Fariha Piracha and Dr Huma Kiyani said that children suffering from mild to severe disabilities need more individualised care and attention than normal children do.
'Our greatest need of the day is to build awareness of special individuals in our society and how they are special yet not different at all from others,' they said.
They said that the responsibility for dealing with the barriers affecting disabled people was not solely that of government but of every individual and urged those with businesses to help by employing disabled.
They emphasised the need for undertaking concerted efforts by all in order to make disabled children effective members of the society.
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