Disability, Health and Human Development

Sophie Mname Mitra

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3097355

Abstract

This open access book introduces the human development model to define disability and map its links with health and wellbeing, based on Sen’s capability approach. The author uses panel survey data with internationally comparable questions on disability for Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. It presents evidence on the prevalence of disability and its strong and consistent association with multidimensional poverty, mortality, economic insecurity and deprivations in education, morbidity and employment. It shows that disability needs to be considered from multiple angles including aging, gender, health and poverty. Ultimately, this study makes a call for inclusion and prevention interventions as solutions to the deprivations associated with impairments and health conditions.

Highlights

In low-income countries, there has been very little research on disability and its link to deprivations
This chapter shows that functional difficulties affect sizeable shares of individuals and households in Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda and require policy and research attention
Persons with functional difficulties are a diverse group in terms of demographics and with respect to age at onset, type of functional difficulty, and severity

Summary

Introduction

Abstract In low-income countries, there has been very little research on disability and its link to deprivations. Much of the research is recent, and research using traditional poverty indicators (e.g., consumption expenditures) paints an unclear picture on the association between disability and deprivations. This is important as the prevalence of health conditions and impairments is expected to rise with an increasing life expectancy and as more policies try to address deprivations in relation to disability. Keywords Disability · Functional difficulties · Poverty · Low-income countries · Africa. In December 2016, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published the profile of Richard Mukaga, one of six children raised by his single mother in the rural Namaingo District in Eastern Uganda where polio left him unable to.

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Conclusion