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Public Health and Indigenous People with Disabilities
Minerva Rivas and Patricia O’Brien
Globally minorities are over-represented in populations of people with disabilities (Wiley, 2009)
Indigenous peoples are arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people
in the world today (United Nations, 2011). Stephens, et al (2006) highlighted the poor health
indicators for indigenous peoples and the urgent need to listen to them and respond to their
priorities and ideas, as a crucial part of the policy equation.
The world disability report highlights that understanding the numbers of people with disabilities
and their circumstances can improve efforts to remove disabling barriers and provide services to
allow people with disabilities to participate (WHO, 2011) Although indigenous people are
overrepresented in number among people with disabilities the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities fails to incorporate indigenous peoples as other thematic group included
in the convention bidding text.
What is disability for indigenous
peoples?
Being indigenous and disabled raises
several complexities. “Disability” is a
social construct that is often defined
differently within indigenous peoples
than it is in the western academic
literature (Australian Disability Services
Commission, 2006).
What are the disabling barriers for
indigenous people?
•Inclusion is not a policy of assimilation
but of valuing diversity (Ballard, 1994)
•Representation of Indigenous values in
policy making.
•Indigenous concepts having both legal
and practical influence (Hickey ,2008)
•Culturally appropriate assessments and
services delivery
•Recognition of traditional healing
practices.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) recognises the distinct
cultural attributes of indigenous peoples and the necessity for these to be protected in order for
indigenous peoples to be able to live freely and in equality with other members of society. The core
public health functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance provide the opportunity to
make a historically invisible population visible to public health (Krahn & Campbell, 2011) Human rights
treaties and international health policy initiatives regarding indigenous peoples need concrete
responses within domestic systems to allow these treaties and policies to function (Beco, 2009).
REFERENCE:
Australian Disability Services Commission. (2006). Aboriginal People with Disabilities. Getting Services Right.NSW, Australia.
Ballard, K. (1994). Disability, Family, Whanau and Society Palmeston, New Zealand The Dunmore Prss Limited
Beco, G. D. (2009). Human Rights Impact Assessments Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, , 27(2), 139-166.
Hickey, S. J. (2008). The Unmet Legal, Social and Cultural Needs of Māori with Disabilities. Unpublished PhD, the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Krahn, G., & Campbell, V. A. (2011). Evolving views of disability and public health: The roles of advocacy and public health. [Article]. Disability and Health Journal, 4(1), 12-18.
Nations, U. (2011). United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Retrieved 11/Sep, 2011, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/index.html
Stephens, C., Porter, J., Nettleton, C., & Willis, R. (2006). Disappearing, displaced, and undervalued: a call to action for Indigenous health worldwide. The Lancet, 367(9527), 2019-2028.
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2008).
Wiley, A. (2009). At a cultural crossroads: Lessons on culture and policy from the New Zealand DISABILITY STRATEGY. Disability & Rehabilitation, 31(14), 1205-1214.
World Health Organization, W. (2011). World report on disability. Malta World Health Organization and The World Bank.