9 Facts aboutDisability in Vietnam

Get a better understanding ofwhat it means to live with a

disability in Vietnam

By Enablecode

15% of Vietnam's populat ionhas one or mult ip le

disabi l i t ies

More than 13 million people inVietnam have a disability. Of thisgroup, 3 million people have more

than one disability.

1

75% of Vietnamese peoplewith d isabi l i t ies l ive in

rura l a reas

This means that they generally havevery limited access to quality medical

care, schooling, transportation andemployment. People in rural areas are

generally also uninformed aboutdisability issues.

2

The r ights o f people wi thdisabi l i t ies are protected in

the Const i tut ion

According to the Constitution of theSocialist Republic of Vietnam, thestate is supposed to create equal

opportunities for all citizens and adoptpolicies to support people with

disabilities. Unfortunately, people withdisabilities remain disadvantaged in

many ways in Vietnam.

3

4Vietnamese chi ldren with

disabi l i t ies are much less l ike lyto at tend school than chi ldren

without d isabi l i t ies

Photo by: Lucas Jans

While only 5% of people withoutdisabilities have never attended

school, almost 20% of people withdisabilities haven’t. Moreover, only76% of people with disabilities are

literate, as opposed to 95% of peoplewithout disabilities.

5Vietnamese people wi th

disabi l i t ies are much morel ike ly to be unemployed than

people wi thout d isabi l i t ies

Almost 10% of people with disabilities is unemployed, whereas less than 5%percent of people without disabilities is. In urban areas, people with disabilities

are actually 3 times as likely to be unemployed than other people.

One important issue isthat many companies

don’t know how toemploy people with

disabilities or that it iseven possible.

6In Vietnam, people wi th

disabi l i t ies are much morel ike ly to l ive in poverty

than other people

Due to low levels of education and training,many persons with disabilities are unable tofind good jobs and have a stable income. As

a result, more than 70% of those withdisabilities are financially dependent ontheir families or on social allowances. In

urban areas, many people with disabilitiescan also be found begging or selling lottery

tickets, among other things.

7Many Vietnamese people

with d isabi l i t ies havel imited access to hea l thcare

Almost 60% of people with disabilities and80% of households that include a personwith a disability have trouble accessing

healthcare services. Some common reasonsfor this include lack of financial resourcesand lack of qualified doctors, especially inrural areas. In many parts of the country,

there also simply aren’t many goodhealthcare facilities.

8Transportat ion i s a

chal lenge for people wi thdisabi l i t ies in Vietnam

In Ho Chi Minh city, the DisabilityResource and Capacity DevelopmentCentre (DRD) provides people withfree three-wheeled motorbikes, butthese can still be difficult to ride.Similarly, in Ho Chi Minh City, thereare only two bus lines (out of morethan 100) that are accessible topeople with disabilities.

The motorbike is the main form of transport in Vietnam, butmany people with disabilities are unable to use a bike.

Photo by; William Cho

9 There i s a lack o f awarenessabout d isabi l i ty in Vietnam

Very often, parents ofchildren with disabilities

believe that their childrenwill never be able to live

independently or take careof themselves. Similarly,

many Vietnamese pitypeople with disabilities.

Unfortunately, people withdisabilities experience alot of discrimination and

stigmatization. Somepeople even believe thatseeing someone with a

disability will give thembad luck.

This SlideShare was created by Enablecode.

Enablecode is a social enterprise based in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam,that employs programmers and web designers with physical disabilities.

By delivering high-quality, low-cost web development servicesd we aim totransform the way Vietnamese society perceives people with disabilities.

To find out more about what we do, pleasevisit our website at www.enablecode.vn