From The Desk of Editor

Volume 8 Issue 1 January, 2018

“Disability”

Disability is an important public health concern in India. December 3rd is the world disability day. Disability is defined as “any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in a manner or within the range considered normal of human beings resulting from impairment. Disability includes Locomotor functioning, Hearing, Speech, Visual and Mental disability. 1.9 percent of Indian population is disabled. Nearly 31 percent of total disability is accounted by psycharitric
disorders.

Psychiatric disorders which can lead to disability are severe Depression, Dementia, Schizophrenia, Bipolar mood disorder, OCD {Obsessive Compulsive Disorder} and Mental retardation.

Disability is directly proportional to severity of disease. Psychiatry disorder display different pattern of disability compared to physical disease. Patient with psychiatry diseases can have significant social, interpersonal and occupation issue due to symptom like apathy, amotivation, poor self care, poor communication skills and other cognitive problems which are not visible like blindness and locomotor disability.

Disability calculated on the basis of DALY {Disability Adjusted Life Year}. One DALY is one lost year of healthy life. Disability causes significant economic burden on the country. Disability in psychiatric diseases causes significant distress on patients and significant burden on family members and care takers.

Government is providing various facilities and reservation to these patients with disability to prevent discrimination, preserve self esteem and protect their rights. RPWD {Rights of Persons With Disability} act 2016 is revised version of pervious act which is derived from UNCRPD (United Nations Consortium for Rights of Persons With Disability) to protect human rights of these patients under legal framework. Rehabilitation committee formed by Indian psychiatry
society has formed a scale to assess disability in Indian settings called as IDEAS {Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment scale} for psychiatric disorders. Patient with more than 40 percent disability are given monthly disability pension from government.

More number of people with disability is residing in villages where the facilities provided by government are yet to reach. There is a need to work hard towards implementing the RPWD act effectively and provide all government facilities to unreached population. Each and every doctor and health care worker should work hard to meet this goal.