Health
88
8.5.2 The distribution of the disabled population
The number of disabled people in Afghanistan amounted to 406 thousand, implying an overall disability prevalence of 1.6 percent. Some 188 thousand of these suffer from more than one disability. The prevalence for males was found to
be higher then for females: 1.9 against 1.4 percent. Overall, one household in every ten had one or more members with a disability. The NDSA reported a higher prevalence of disability, but this can at least partly be attributed to the capture
of more disability categories than the NRVA.
As can be seen in Figure 8.5, disability prevalence increases with age. This is the common and expected pattern, as
body functions tend to deteriorate with age, especially after age 60. Therefore, it is not surprising that despite their small share in the total population, age categories over age 50 comprise very large numbers of disabled. However, the largest
number of disabled – 57 thousand – is found in the age bracket 10-19, even though this number represents only around one percent of the population in that age group. The 2005 NDSA found a similar pattern.
Figure 8.5 Number of disabled people in thousands and disability prevalence, by age
The most frequent type of disability is problems with walking, followed by problems with seeing and remembering. Respectively 179, 137 and 96 thousand people suffer these problems. The finding that problems with walking and
moving have the highest prevalence is not very usual in disability distributions. However, in the past decades the risk of loosing feet or legs due to mines or UXO’s is exceptionally high in the specific context of Afghanistan.
8.5.3 Causes and consequences of disability
As ageing is the most common cause of disability, it should be expected that this will also be noticeable in Afghanistan. In addition, given the poor health conditions in the country, illnesses – importantly polio – are also supposed to contribute
to the prevalence of disability, and relatively more so at younger ages given the competing risk of ageing at higher age. In addition, the recent history of conflicts should be visible in the share of disability due to war and landmines.
Table 8.10 confirms these expectations. Overall, more than one third of disabilities was attributed to old age and illness. This concerns around the same number of males and females, although the relative share for males is lower, because
of their exposure to additional risks. These additional risks are largely related to higher male participation in ‘public’ activities. The number of male victims of traffic and work accidents, and of mines and war is significantly higher than the
corresponding figures for females. Overall 60 thousand people 13 percent reported to be disabled because of mines, explosives, conflict and war, but 49 thousand 82 percent of these are men. In the absence of large-scale conflict and
the progress in clearing mines and UXO’s, it is likely that the share of war- and mine-induced disability in the population will quickly decrease given the annual entry of very large new birth cohorts.
Disability may lead to exclusion effects and high vulnerability. This section limits itself to an assessment of disability consequences in terms of school attendance and labour force characteristics. With regard to school attendance,
Table 8.11 indicates that the probability that disabled primary-school age children attend primary school is half that of
their non-disabled peers 26 compared to 52 percent. Not attending school at present means that for the future, disabled children further minimize their already slim chances to find decent work on the labour market. For secondary school
middle and high school combined, the corresponding rates indicate even smaller chances to attend school for disabled children 17 percent compared to 45 percent for non-disabled children, although the effect is primarily with boys.
Table 8.10 Disability, by sex, and by cause of disability
Kategori