The world marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Friday with the aim to promote the rights and well-being of differently abled people. This year, the theme is ‘leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-Covid-19 world’.
The Sultanate of Oman has implemented various steps and laws to make the society disabled-friendly.
"Most of the types of disability are traumatic and those caused by polio, cerebral palsy, children with oxygen deficiency, multiple sclerosis," says Dr Wahid Ali Said al Kharusi, President and Chairperson of the Oman Cancer Association.
According to the 2020 e-census, the number of Omanis with disabilities reached 42,304, which is nearly 1.55 per cent of the Omani population. This includes the number of road accident victims who are disabled either permanently or temporarily.
Hearing loss accounts for the largest percentage of disabilities in all governorates, except in Dhofar. Dr Al Kharusi said that the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI) data shows that 34 per cent of people with disabilities have hearing disabilities followed by physical disabilities at 23.7 per cent.
The rate of people with disabilities was about 15.5 per 1,000 Omanis. The highest rate was registered in Al Dhahirah Governorate at 18.5, while the lowest rate was in Al Wusta Governorate at 10.1.
"Rehabilitating the disabled is a great deed and there needs to be people with mind, heart and soul to work for the upliftment of their," says Shaikh Soud al Rawahi, Founder and Chairman of the Oman Association for the Disabled.
Besides Shaikh Soud, Dr Wahid al Kharusi, Tariq al Khaboori, Mukthar al Rawahi and others are the members of the Association which functions under the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Development.
"In Oman, the number of rehabilitation services in the country increased dramatically since 2010, especially for children with autism," says Dr Watfa al Mamari, Senior Consultant, Developmental Pediatrician, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital.
"We have always been developing awareness about disabilities, especially blindness in the Sultanate of Oman. We also focus on their employment as it makes a lot of difference to a person’s life,” says Barka Shahbal al Bakri, Honorary Life Member of the Al Noor Association for the Blind.
"Taking people with special abilities is a great challenge and when they were given an opportunity for diving, they were overjoyed," says Tariq Jawad al Khaboori, who has dedicated his life to teaching diving to disabled people that accelerate their rehabilitation.
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