WHO Resolution on Persons With Disabilities Omits Mention of CBR – Why You Should Care
‘Community-based rehabilitation’ attempts to ensure that persons with disabilities can live the fullest lives possible with the participation of those around them, no matter where they live.
New Delhi: A new decision by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to move away from a policy it initiated over four decades ago has surprised disability rights activists, particularly those working in countries of the ‘Global South’.
The World Health Assembly, the body with which the WHO’s member states govern it, passed a resolution entitled ‘The highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities’ in January 2021. The moment became the first time in many years that the member states had approved a policy pertaining to persons with disabilities that didn’t mention something called ‘community-based rehabilitation’ (CBR).
This is a potentially pernicious omission.
Activists are worried that, as a result, the WHO will also leave out CBR from its Rehabilitation 2030 initiative – a.k.a. ‘Rehab 2030’ – which says rehabilitation should be an integral part of health systems, and the health assembly’s proposed 2022 resolution on ‘Rehabilitation for All’.
