The Vietnam Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has estimated that there are at least 5 million people with disabilities in Vietnam today, or more than 6 percent of the population. This includes 1.5 million persons with severe disabilities who are in need of government and community assistance and support.


A review of disability data from various surveys can be reflected as follows: 

87.27% of persons with disabilities reside in rural areas  Children with disabilities comprise about 63.52% of the total Children with disabilities ages 0-17, number over 1,000,000   Persons with multiple disabilities is 20.22% of those who are disabled

Types of Disabilities and Causes

                                                                                                                                                

The educational level of persons with disabilities is very low, with nearly 36 per cent illiterate. A mere 0.8 per cent of disabled people have a university education At present, only 230,000 out of 1,000,000 children with disabilities attend school

 

 

 

 

The Need

 

Vietnam is home to a disproportionately large number of people with disabilities, including many affected by exposure to dioxin. The majority of these are children who are unable to care for themselves, and therefore live with their families indefinitely. One-third of families with disabled children have never sought treatment for their disabilities while only one-fifth of disabled children use the proper rehabilitative aids such as wheel chairs, prosthetic limbs, or hearing aids. Only a small number of children access the meager social assistance to which they are entitled and the vast majority of disabled children in Vietnam do not finish primary school.

 

Actress Tea  Leoni, who recently visited Vietnam said  "The situation for children with disabilities is extremely difficult. With few care options, many are confined to their beds with little or no prospects for their future. Families without assistance are relegated to their homes to care for their children—depriving them of the opportunity to work, earn a living or interact with their communities. Caring for children with disabilities is literally a 24-hour-a-day job."

 

Leoni went on the say  "As a mother, after seeing the pain of children and their families, I implore others to (help) so that no child lives without the care and assistance so desperately needed."

 

Cindy McCain, wife of Presidential hopeful John McCain, was in Vietnam June 18,  assisting with the screening of children with cleft palates and similar disfigurements who are seeking surgery. Mrs. McCain, who has made several trips to Vietnam stated:  "When you see a child anywhere, say a child that doesn't have food or a child with a cleft palate who's been kept in a back room because the family is embarrassed or whatever it may be, it takes you back to really what's basic and what's really important".