The
survey shows that
disability has a woman’s
face since they represent
61 percent of the
population with
disabilities. / A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
photo
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Most people
with disabilities in Costa
Rica
are women and live in
poverty, says study
By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
"After knowing the first data of
the National Survey on
Disability, we can perform a
more rigorous work on policies,
plans, and public programs. From
now on our work will be to
generate better-oriented actions
in terms of access to health,
education or work," said Marvin
Rodríguez, Vice President,
referring to the first
statistics on disability.
The National Institute of
Statistics and Census reports
that 18.2 percent of the older
population of age are people in
a situation of disability, that
is close to 700,000 people.
The survey shows that disability
has a woman’s face since they
represent 61 percent of the
population with disabilities,
while 39.1 percent are men.
The report also stated that
women are the primary caregivers
for people with disabilities and
that 90 percent of them do not
receive payment for their work.
According to the data by
regions, the highest percentage
of people with disabilities live
on the Pacific Coast, 24
percent, in the second place is
the south zone with 22 percent,
the third place is in the North
zone with 16 percent and in the
last place, is the Caribbean
coast with 14 percent.
According to the statistics,
more than 50 percent of people
with disabilities live in
poverty.
"The poverty associated with a
disability is the most urgent in
light of the new data revealed
by the survey; The combination
of poverty and disability is a
perverse binomial," said Ericka
Álvarez, president of the
National Disability Council.
Alvarez says that the Ministry
of Labor has a program called
"Empléate" (works) that
encourages companies to hire
people with disabilities.
The survey was conducted between
October and November of 2018.
The research was carried out to
include variables such as
education, employment, income,
health, among others, that
people with disabilities have.
Disability is an impairment that
may be cognitive, developmental,
intellectual, mental, physical,
sensory, or some combination of
these. Other definitions
describe disability as the
societal disadvantage arising
from such impairments.
Disability substantially affects
a person's life activities and
may be present from birth or
occur during a person's
lifetime.
According to the World Health
Organization, ‘disability’ is an
umbrella term, covering
impairments, activity
limitations, and participation
restrictions.
An impairment is a problem in
body function or structure; an
activity limitation is a
difficulty encountered by an
individual in executing a task
or action; while a participation
restriction is a problem
experienced by an individual in
involvement in life situations.
"Disability is not just a
problem, it is a complex
phenomenon, reflecting the
interaction between features of
a person's body and features of
the society in which he or she
lives," said World Health
Organization in its statement.
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How does the government of your
country support the people with
disabilities? We would like to
know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
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