[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [Pwd] (unicode) [WSIS-CT] RE: [Ct-drafting] URGENT: Please send COMMENTS on CS declaration

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

Dear Thian and Hiroshi,

 In many countries including the US, unless mental or psychological is
specified it is often excluded.  This is especially true with health
insurance coverage and services.  How about a qualifier such as "persons
with disabilities, including mental and physical"  as this would include
mental but not limit it to physical as it is used as an example of the types
of disabilities?

Best regards,

Dr. Elizabeth Carll

Focal Point

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

Tel: 631-754-2424

Fax: 631-754-5032

ecarll at optonline.net



-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf
Of Monthian Buntan
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 8:41 PM
To: Hiroshi Kawamura; pwd at wsis-cs.org
Cc: Sally Burch; ct-drafting at wsis-cs.org; ct at wsis-cs.org;
plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [Pwd] (unicode) [WSIS-CT] RE: [Ct-drafting]
URGENT: Please send COMMENTS on CS declaration


  Dear Hiroshi:

  Thank you for your kind imput.  However, I have some great concern over
the word mental and physical disabilities.  Under many circumstances, the
word "physical disabilities" may not include sensory impairment at all.  At
least in thailand, the term "physical disabilities" refer only to persons
with mobility impairment.  Therefore, I would prefer "persons with
disabilities" as it speaks for the broadest range of "disabilities"
regardless of types and severity.

  Please seriously take it into consideration or otherwise we may end up
exlcuding many people out of different understanding and interpretation.

  Again, I confirm that "persons with disabilities" is absolutely broader
than "persons with physical and mental disabilities."

  Best regards,

  Thian

   At 11:14 PM 12/6/2003, Hiroshi Kawamura wrote:

    The following text is copied from WSIS-CT mailing list with permission
of
    original author. --- Hiroshi

    ----------------------------------------------------

    The paragraph posted by Sally Burch, below is the latest and most
accurate
    version of the MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH CARE section for inclusion in
the
    "PRINCIPLES, GOALS AND CHALLENGES section ( or possibly in Social
Justice
    section), which I had submitted.

    The section should be titled;    MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH CARE

    The delivery of life-critical mental and physical health information can
be
    facilitated and improved through ICT-based solutions. Lack of access to
    information and communication has been identified as a critical factor
in
    the public mental and physical health crises around the world. Experts
have
    suggested that providing citizens of underdeveloped countries with
community
    level points of access to mental and physical health information would
be a
    critical starting point for addressing the mental and physical health
care
    crises. However, such access points should support more than one-way
flows
    of information (for example, from expert to community or patient).
    Communities must be allowed to participate in the selection and creation
of
    communication flows that they find useful and necessary to address the
    prevention, treatment, and promotion of mental and physical health care
for
    all people.

    In addition, please note the following revisions in brackets, which were
    previously recommended but in latest draft have been omitted.  Please
    re-insert.  Most of these refer to specifying mental and physical
health, as
    opposed to only physical, and should be included for consistency and
    clarity.

    3.2.4 Access to Information and the Means of Communication, paragraph 3

    Specific needs and requirements of all stakeholders, including those
with
    [mental and physical] disabilities, must be....

    3.2.5 Basic literacy, par 1 last sentence

    People-centered information technologies can foster eradication of
[mental
    and physical] illnesses and epidemics, can help give everyone food,
shelter,
    freedom and peace.

    3.2.5 Basic literacy, par 3 last sentence

    must include a focus on the needs of people who have [mental and]
physical
    impairments and all means of transcending those impairments ...

    3.3.8 Human development ­ education and training, par 2
      Literacy, education, and research efforts in the Information Society
must
    include a focus on the needs of people who have [mental and] physical
    impairments and all means of transcending those impairments....



    In par 4 -



    ...special needs: those of young and elderly people, of women, of people
    with [mental and physical] impairments, of indigenous peoples, of
migrant
    communities, of refugees and returnees in post-conflict situations, in a
    life-long perspective...





    3.3.9 Information generation and knowledge development - research, par
1,
    sentence 3



    Clear principles should be developed for the use and exploitation of the
    body of knowledge produced [e.g. Scientific research data should be
gender
    and age disaggregated for mental and physical health.]





    4. Conclusion, par 2, last sentence



    ....the right to a standard of living adequate for the [mental and
physical]
    health and well-being of the individual and his or her family, including
    food housing and (delete medical)  [mental and physical health]care.





    3.1.9 Rights of Persons with Disabilities: recommended by Monthian
Buntan



    I also support the inclusion of the section below recommended by
Monthian
    Buntan, however, I would recommend the following revisions to be
consistent
    with the rest of the document.  While it is helpful to specify types and
    degree of disabilities, these can be seen as referring to physical only
as
    often mental and physical health care have been disconnected in many
    countries.



    3.1.9 Rights of Persons with [Mental and Physical] Disabilities:


    In the inclusive information society, the rights of persons with [mental
and
    physical] disabilities to have full and absolute equal access to
information
    and communications including ICTs, regardless of types and degree of
    disabilities, must be ensured by laws and policies at all levels.  In
order
    to achieve such goal, Universal Design principle and the use of
assistive
    technologies must be seriously promoted and supported throughout the
whole
    process of building and nurturing the information society in which PWDs
and
    their organizations must be allowed to participate fully and on equal
terms
    with non-disabled people.





    Thank you for all your work on this.  Look forward to meeting everyone
in
    Geneva as hoping to arrive Monday morning, however, there is a huge
blizzard
    and snowing now in New York and flights are delayed.



    Elizabeth



    Dr. Elizabeth Carll

    Focal Point

    International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

    Tel: 631-754-2424

    Fax: 631-754-5032

    ecarll at optonline.net




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