Is the law fair to the disabled? [antikvár]

Foreword This book records the findings of a survey on health and social legislation for the disabled, carried out as part of the health legislation programme of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. It is designed to report and assess progress since 1981, the International Year of Disabled Persons, and as such forms part of the activities of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-1992. For many governments and international organizations, the International Year of Disabled Persons marked the starting point in the systemati-zation of legislation for the disabled. This survey is WHO's contribution to that process. The interests of the severely disabled are not easily acknowledged in the political process that leads towards laws and administrative practices. They are a minority group with few advantages and few to speak for them, especially in times of economic difficulty. Yet much can be done if the philosophy and thinking behind the legislative process are clear. Too little is known about the effects of legislative changes on the quality of life of those for whom the laws are passed in the first place. The legislation concerning disabled persons is vast and complex because its development has been piecemeal, including reactions to acute situations such as great wars. The health and sociopolitical actions that have been taken on behalf of disabled persons have been unduly narrow, promoting the impression that disabled persons are sick, unable to work and a special group requiring help and pity from the non-disabled sections of society. Even deeper in people's social attitudes lies the belief that normality and good health are unitary concepts that leave no scope for individual variations. The six major themes of the WHO strategy for health for all by the year 2000 are equity, health promotion, community participation. VII