Not just a medical issue « Sao Mai Education Fund

Not just a medical issue

Disability is not just a medical issue.

It is not just a social issue.

It is a human rights issue.

Ms Phan Thuy Phuong

The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) estimates that approximately 6% of the population, or 5 to 6 million Vietnamese, have disabilities.

Illiteracy rates among them are estimated to be as high as 36% compared to national rates that are below 10%.

In 1999 three quarters of the student population completed their primary education compared to approximately 25% of children with disabilities.

The statistics, spanning a range of areas from education to health to income, confirm the alarming and harsh realities of life for people with disabilities: issues of access, participation, and marginalization have set them on an uneven footing producing an inequality of both opportunity and results.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN VIET NAM