Polio vaccinators killed in Pakistan

Late last night we received the heart-breaking news that five polio vaccinators had been killed in Karachi, Pakistan. 

 

Our sympathy goes out to the victims' families today, but also to the thousands of children who will now miss out on some of the most basic of health services.

 

The vaccinators, all female, had been working to protect children against polio as part of a three-day vaccination round. It follows a similar incident on Monday, in which a male polio vaccinator, also in Karachi, was killed.

 

These vaccinators were some of the true heroes of polio eradication. 

 

We are all in awe of the dedication and bravery of those who risk their own lives to protect children against this devastating disease. The best way to honour their sacrifice is to ensure that all Pakistani children receive basic health services and that polio is finally eradicated from their country, once and for all.
 

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WHO, UNICEF and the other partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are committed to supporting the Government of Pakistan and the Pakistani people in their efforts to rid their country of polio - and so are we! This tragedy will not stop eradication efforts and only heightens our resolve to deliver a polio-free Pakistan.

Thank you for standing shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in their commitment to free their country from this disease.

Source: The End of Polio; The Global Poverty Project

New Disability Law Intensive Program at Osgoode

York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, which has been a leader in “law in action” for several decades, has approved the creation of a new experiential education program to assist law students in understanding the issues of people with disabilities. 

The Disability Law Intensive Program, the first of its kind in Canada, will provide second and third-year Osgoode Juris Doctor (JD) students with a unique opportunity to learn about a vast scope of law that mostly affects people with disabilities.

In partnership with ARCH Disability Law Centre, a specialty community legal aid clinic dedicated to defending and advancing the equality rights of people with disabilities in Ontario, the students will engage in the practice of disability law through involvement in individual client advocacy and systemic policy-based advocacy.

Starting next September, up to 12 students will participate in the program throughout the 2013-14 academic year. A skills training week will be held in August at ARCH after which the students will begin their clinical placement. Every two weeks throughout the academic year, the students will participate in an academic seminar at Osgoode and they will also be required to complete a major research paper as part of the 15-credit program.

“The Disability Law Intensive Program is a wonderful opportunity for Osgoode, and its students, to make a positive difference within the disability community,” said Osgoode Dean Lorne Sossin. “We are grateful for collaborative partnerships with organizations such as ARCH because they expose our students to law in action.”

The program, which was approved by Osgoode Faculty Council on the International Day of Disabled Persons (December 3, 2012), will be co-directed in 2013-14 by Osgoode Professor Roxanne Mykitiuk, an internationally recognized expert in disability rights, and Marian MacGregor, an adjunct faculty member and director of Osgoode’s Community and Legal Aid Services Program (CLASP). 

MacGregor was awarded a Community Leadership in Justice Fellowship in 2011 from the Law Foundation of Ontario that allowed her to take an eight-month leave of absence from CLASP to help develop the Disability Law Intensive Program.
"The impact of disability, often combined with poverty, can create serious access to justice barriers," said MacGregor, who has practised extensively in the area of poverty law. "This new program will produce lawyers who are better equipped to meet the distinct needs of clients with disabilities, as well as involve students in the systemic change that needs to take place."

Mykitiuk added that the Disability Law Intensive Program, which was designed with student consultation and input, will provide a first-hand opportunity to see “how law applies in concrete ways to people, problems and issues and how the practice of law can be very different than the study of law.” 

The Disability Law Intensive Program is the latest in a growing number of clinical and intensive programs that form part of Osgoode Hall Law School’s celebrated experiential education offerings. 

Osgoode is the first law school in Canada to introduce an experiential education requirement – referred to as a “praxicum” – into its JD curriculum. Commencing with the Class of 2015, which arrived in September 2012, every Osgoode JD student will be exposed to law in action through an experiential course or program as part of their legal education. 

In addition, Osgoode has opened an Office of Experiential Education to serve as a catalyst for the development of new courses, programs and clinics, and provide support to the faculty, students and staff. 

Source: yFile

Enablist Impact: From blog to a prestigious journal

On the eve of ‘World Polio Day’, I wrote a post on this blog World Polio Day - 24th or 28th October? It was an attempt to challenge the erroneous belief that Polio day is celebrated to mark the inventor Jonas Salk’s birthday, which is not true. The websites, media reports and even the WHO and UN sites claimed the same on 24^th October which is celebrated as Polio day. I had already done my Sherlock Holmes investigation in the said post.

I then decided to write ‘letter to the editor’ to the ‘Vaccine’ journal. 17 years earlier the journal carried an article on Jonas Salk clearly stating 28 October as his birth date. ‘Vaccine’ is the official journal of: The Edward Jenner Society, The International Society for Vaccines and The Japanese Society for Vaccinology. The prestigious journal has a 5-Year Impact Factor of 3.7. The journal immediately accepted my letter titled ‘It’s time to correct the literature’ and it has been published online now here.

Why then, for years, we are perpetuating the wrong thing by misquoting a legend’s birth, time and again. If Rotary International has faltered here by choosing the wrong day, isn’t it our duty to correct the same? 24th October is not yet an United Nation observance, but even if it has become synonym with polio day can’t we celebrate the whole week as a Polio week to satisfy all parties?


Also read:
Polio survivor's fight to correct date of Salk's b'day

Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disability

On the eve of 64th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I reproduce declaration on the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disability given on the website of O/o the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The article has used the word 'mentally retarded' which I don't find appropriate and accordingly replaced with 'Intellectual Disability' in the title. However I shall use the original source below.

Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons

Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 2856 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971

The General Assembly ,

Mindful of the pledge of the States Members of the United Nations under the Charter to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization to promote higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development,

Reaffirming faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in the principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person and of social justice proclaimed in the Charter,

Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the standards already set for social progress in the constitutions, conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other organizations concerned,

Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development has proclaimed the necessity of protecting the rights and assuring the welfare and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally disadvantaged,

Bearing in mind the necessity of assisting mentally retarded persons to develop their abilities in various fields of activities and of promoting their integration as far as possible in normal life,

Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development, can devote only limited efforts to this end,

Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons and calls for national and international action to en sure that it will be used as a common basis and frame of reference for the protection of these rights:

1. The mentally retarded person has, to the maximum degree of feasibility, the same rights as other human beings.

2. The mentally retarded person has a right to proper medical care and physical therapy and to such education, training, rehabilitation and guidance as will enable him to develop his ability and maximum potential.

3. The mentally retarded person has a right to economic security and to a decent standard of living. He has a right to perform productive work or to engage in any other meaningful occupation to the fullest possible extent of his capabilities.

4. Whenever possible, the mentally retarded person should live with his own family or with foster parents and participate in different forms of community life. The family with which he lives should receive assistance. If care in an institution becomes necessary, it should be provided in surroundings and other circumstances as close as possible to those of normal life.

5. The mentally retarded person has a right to a qualified guardian when this is required to protect his personal well-being and interests.

6. The mentally retarded person has a right to protection from exploitation, abuse and degrading treatment. If prosecuted for any offence, he shall have a right to due process of law with full recognition being given to his degree of mental responsibility.

7. Whenever mentally retarded persons are unable, because of the severity of their handicap, to exercise all their rights in a meaningful way or it should become necessary to restrict or deny some or all of these rights, the procedure used for that restriction or denial of rights must contain proper legal safeguards against every form of abuse. This procedure must be based on an evaluation of the social capability of the mentally retarded person by qualified experts and must be subject to periodic review and to the right of appeal to higher authorities.

Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care

Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

On the eve of 64th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I reproduce declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons given on the website of O/o the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 3447 (XXX) of 9 December 1975

The General Assembly ,

Mindful of the pledge made by Member States, under the Charter of the United Nations to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization to promote higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development,

Reaffirming its faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in the principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person and of social justice proclaimed in the Charter,

Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, as well as the standards already set for social progress in the constitutions, conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other organizations concerned,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1921 (LVIII) of 6 May 1975 on the prevention of disability and the rehabilitation of disabled persons,

Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development has proclaimed the necessity of protecting the rights and assuring the welfare and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally disadvantaged,

Bearing in mind the necessity of preventing physical and mental disabilities and of assisting disabled persons to develop their abilities in the most varied fields of activities and of promoting their integration as far as possible in normal life,

Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development, can devote only limited efforts to this end,

Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons and calls for national and international action to ensure that it will be used as a common basis and frame of reference for the protection of these rights:

1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure by himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual and/or social life, as a result of deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities.

2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. These rights shall be granted to all disabled persons without any exception whatsoever and without distinction or discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation applying either to the disabled person himself or herself or to his or her family.

3. Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human dignity. Disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights as their fellow-citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible.

4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as other human beings; paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons applies to any possible limitation or suppression of those rights for mentally disabled persons.

5. Disabled persons are entitled to the measures designed to enable them to become as self-reliant as possible.

6. Disabled persons have the right to medical, psychological and functional treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to medical and social rehabilitation, education, vocational training and rehabilitation, aid, counselling, placement services and other services which will enable them to develop their capabilities and skills to the maximum and will hasten the processes of their social integration or reintegration.

7. Disabled persons have the right to economic and social security and to a decent level of living. They have the right, according to their capabilities, to secure and retain employment or to engage in a useful, productive and remunerative occupation and to join trade unions.

8. Disabled persons are entitled to have their special needs taken into consideration at all stages of economic and social planning.

9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster parents and to participate in all social, creative or recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, as far as his or her residence is concerned, to differential treatment other than that required by his or her condition or by the improvement which he or she may derive therefrom. If the stay of a disabled person in a specialized establishment is indispensable, the environment and living conditions therein shall be as close as possible to those of the normal life of a person of his or her age.

10. Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive or degrading nature.

11. Disabled persons shall be able to avail themselves of qualified legal aid when such aid proves indispensable for the protection of their persons and property. If judicial proceedings are instituted against them, the legal procedure applied shall take their physical and mental condition fully into account.

12. Organizations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted in all matters regarding the rights of disabled persons.

13. Disabled persons, their families and communities shall be fully informed, by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this Declaration.

Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities

Make Indian Railways Barrier Free [Online petition]

Make Indian Railways Barrier Free

Petition by Shishu Sarothi

India doesn't lack the money, the knowledge, the infrastructure or the power. What it lacks is a VISION. A vision to see that everyone enjoys the RIGHT TO EQUALITY and the most basic right - RIGHT TO LIFE with DIGNITY. Though it is written in our Constitution, it is not engraved in our minds. What our mind speaks is the language of power and the language of 'ignorance is bliss’. Is Disability really an impairment of the body or the impairment of the society to be inclusive of them?

This is the question that 15 physically challenged children from Guwahati had to face when they reached Guwahati Railway Station on 18th November, 2012. They had been invited to perform a play – Buddhuram– at the Jashne Bachpan Festival, 2012 organised by the National School of Drama in New Delhi on 20th November, 2012. Part of the troupe, with sparkles in their eyes and an excitement to showcase their ‘ability’ in the midst of mindless thoughts of disability, reached the station only to have let down that enthusiasm. Guwahati Railway Station (classified as Grade A) did not have the basic facilities to meet the needs of these 15 children who had a tough time reaching, boarding and travelling in Sampark Kranti Express to Delhi.

Shishu Sarothi, a city-based centre for rehabilitation and training for multiple disability, who accompanied the children found that the station was not disabled friendly with no lift or ramp and the train parked at the furthest possible platform. They were taken through the route which is used to tow hand carts with luggage to be loaded onto the trains through unmanned tracks. Even after reaching the platform, the questions kept coming – how does one get into the train? Where can they comfortably keep their wheelchairs? How do they use the bathroom which many of us don’t even dare to open? All this is not only inaccessible but unsafe for them in many ways.

This is not just the story of one group of differently abled individuals or one railway station. It is the same story across the country. While the world is advancing at a fast pace, we urge the government to not slow-down in making every place ACCESSIBLE and DISABLED FRIENDLY. The Railway Ministry ought to take steps at the earliest to make railways disabled friendly and to provide infrastructure so that the differently abled can travel with comfort. It’s high time that ‘Inclusive’ is the word to be used in our vocabulary very often!

Read the full petition here.

Impossible is nothing when it comes to the specially abled

Deccan Herald MetroLife, NewDelhi
Neha Das, Dec 4, 2012

According to UN statistics, over one billion people, or approximately 15 per cent of the world’s population live with some form of disability or physical impairments. And it is not unknown that ‘the world’s largest minority’, often faces discrimination. 

With December 3 being the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ Metrolife spoke to a few who have made it big in life, past all hurdles.

Working against all odds, Major HPS Ahluwalia is one such example. A mountaineer who suffered a gun-shot wound in his neck during the Indo-Pak war in 1965, left him paralysed below the waist and confined to a wheelchair. But, that did not stop him from achieving his potential.

Apart from authoring several books Maj. Ahl­u­w­a­lia also founded the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre in 1995 and became the Chairman of The Indian Mountai­ne­ering Foundation. Says Ahluwalia in a comment on his website, “People often ask me from where I get my strength. I tell them, from the mountains.

Today a painting of the Himal­a­yas greets every visitor to the centre and inspires everyone to reach higher, to seek the strength within themsel­v­es and to know that they can conquer any fear, surmo­unt any challenge! When your spirit is strong, nothing in the world can stop you.”

Another hero, Dr. Satendra Singh, a polio survivor, is now a Coordinator of Enabling Unit (for students with disabilities), Equal Opportunity Cell at College of Medical Sciences (DU) and GTB Hospital. The founder of ‘Infinite Ability’ – a group on disability, his RTI’s have exposed inaccessible status of India Post and lack of disability policy.

He is also the Chairperson of the Equality and Diversity Committee, Enabling Unit, UCMS constituted for students with disabilities. “India or Delhi is not at all disabled friendly. Even to get a disability certificate, a disabled pers­on has to make rounds of hospitals and offices. We need a sensitisation drive to make people understand that even we are ‘normal’ hu­m­an beings and need to be treated equally. We are not luggage, but part of the society.”


Fighting all odds is Sheela Sharma, an artist from Lucknow. She lost both her arms in a train accident, when she was a child. But she went on to complete her BA in Fine Arts. Now, she paints with the help of her left foot. Talking about India’s role for the development of disabled persons, She­e­la says, “The development are only for the rich and not for us. There are provisions but we never get any help.”

India lacks awareness and understanding of the basic needs of the physically impaired people. Even ATMs’, banks and post offices, which are regularly used avenues are not disabled-friendly.

Joginder Singh Saluja, a wheelchair-bound weightlifter a seven time winner of Mr. India Para Power Lifting inspires many. “I have proved my mettle and that is why the CRPF has chosen me as a health consultant. I am also the head councillor for disabled students in DU. Jis din mera peheli baar mazaak udaya gaya tha, maine usi din thaan liya ki kuch karne ka hai jo aam aadmi naa kar paaye.”