Disabilities in Latin America

There are nearly 50 million Latin Americans suffering from one or more disability. That is about 10 percent of the region’s population. Most of these people lack access to not only needed health services, but to even the health buildings themselves. Also, health insurers are more likely to reject people with disabilities. Consequently, necessary services or tools designed to aid disabled people are not provided.

The major causes of a disability are malnutrition, communicable diseases, low quality of prenatal care, and accidents. In some cases, diseases such as polio could cause paralysis which limits a person’s mobility. In other cases, preventable diseases and treatable injuries could cause unnecessary handicap. However, the leading cause of disabilities in Latin America is poverty. This has been a problem in most countries for decades, if not longer. Risk of infection is much higher for poor families because of poor sanitation. As a result, they are more disease prone and unable to receive proper health care. Those who do receive health care go into more debt which could cause even more diseases.

Disability results from not only a diagnosable condition, but also because they are left without access to education, labor markets, and public services. Only about 20 percent of regular schools in Brazil are accessible to disabled children and just 10 percent in Mexico. Most schools suffer from a severe lack of sufficient transportation, teacher training, equipment, furniture, learning materials, and access into their buildings. Because of the necessary need for education that disabled people rarely receive, about 80-90 percent of them are unemployed. Disability affects an entire family as well as the person afflicted. The wife or mother is more likely to be the caregivers for children. This means that they are not able to invest in themselves.

Along with recent efforts to address the importance of helping the disabled, the World Bank is working with other local organizations, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, on developing methods and common standards to determine the number of disabled people in the region. The Bank is also supporting programs that deal with accessibility. They are upgrading rail and bus-based mass transit systems in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Working on inclusive education projects in Uruguay and Brazil and reconstruction of health infrastructure in countries such as El Salvador.

Across Latin America, organizations are making an effort to develop national and regional policies and strategies that help to include people with disabilities throughout all aspects of community, society, and economy. However, these efforts are not enough. If more people knew about this problem, then they could do more to help. Also, if they had a program that could pair up families with disabilities and families that are well off, it would be a good way to help those that can’t help themselves. Either way, a program needs to be set up that helps aid those with disabilities, even if it’s not through other families.