Planning for the future: Exploring the experiences of older carers of adult children with a learning disability

Musculoskeletal Conditions Second Greatest Cause of Disability

ROSEMONT, Ill., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Musculoskeletal diseases are the second greatest cause of disability in all regions of the world, according to a newly released study on the Global Burden of Disease published in The Lancet December 15, 2012. Back pain was found to cause the most disability worldwide, while osteoarthritis has shown the greatest increase in the last 20 years. The Bone and Joint Decade, an international initiative, has worked to raise awareness of the burden of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions throughout the world since its launch in 2000. This new evidence further supports the Decade's campaign to make musculoskeletal conditions a public health priority. The Lancet publication of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study is available at www.thelancet.com/themed/global-burden-of-disease .

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL-UN -- MESSAGE ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 3 December 2012

This year’s Paralympic Games were a reminder of the immense potential of persons with disabilities to soar and to inspire. One girl wrote to a Paralympic gold-medal champion, “Watching as you overcome the difficulties of life, reaching for new victories and new heights in sports, I derive strength and inspiration.”

Children with disabilities more likely to experience violence

12 July 2012 | Geneva - Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children, according to a review commissioned by WHO and published today in the medical journal The Lancet.

World Down Syndrome Day

21 March 2012 –

Ban Ki-moon today urged the world to reaffirm that persons with Down Syndrome are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, deploring the stigma and discrimination they continue to face.

A free eBook

Living happily with disability

Overcoming unhappiness in disability is the subject of a free e-book which has been launched by its author Stuart Rose, who has lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 30 years.

"I am a happy person and, in the book, I wanted to explain how and why I am happy even though I am classed as being severely disabled with multiple sclerosis," says Stuart.

Worsening Humanitarian Situation

Crisis in Horn of Africa

Somalia is at the heart of one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today. Twenty years of conflict and waves of drought have uprooted a quarter of the country's 7.5 million people. As the region faces its most severe drought in 60 years, the Somali exodus is growing fast. In the first half of 2011 alone, more than 83,000 Somalis fled into Kenya and over 54,000 into Ethiopia. In July, daily arrivals in each country ranged from 1,300 to 1,700. An additional 2,600 Somalis had crossed the north-western border into Djibouti by mid-2011.

UNICEF says one-third of children not in school have a disability and are often denied dignity and rights

NEW YORK, 12 October 2011 – Children with disabilities are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups and suffer widespread violations of their rights, UNICEF said today as a key report was presented to a committee of the UN General Assembly.

Children with disabilities are denied access to education and health care, opportunities for play and culture, an adequate standard of living and the right to be heard. They are discriminated against and treated as an invisible burden. In some cultures disability is viewed as a curse or punishment. A child with an impairment is blamed as the embodiment of past failure, inadequacy or sins.