Draft DPI Statement on Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYS)
Since its inauguration in 1981, DPI has, internationally, regionally and nationally, been steadfastly promoting the fundamental rights of disabled people, our right to personhood, equality and participation. We proclaim that we, as individuals, are not a problem or the cause of poverty, inequality and injustice. It is the social response to us that creates the problems; it is the environmental, economic and attitudinal barriers that create the disability for people with impairments and health conditions.
DALYS were introduced in 1993 as way to measure the global burden of disease and the effectiveness of health interventions. It is now also used as a measurement of development in the same way that mortality and life expectancy have been used, in the past, to indicate a country's economic and social standing.
DPI believes that the DALY measurements are fatally flawed and should not be used as a policy tool for the following reasons:
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DALY does not take into account social and environmental causes of disability
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It assumes that any given disabling condition always has the same outcomes. That is, if you are diagnosed with a certain condition then the outcome must be x, y or z. Whereas the lived experience of disabled people shows clearly that that is not the case. Outcomes are dependent on the environmental and social impacts on the personal characteristics of the individual.
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The authors of DALY have relied on medical experts and ignored the disability community
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The DALY puts the blame for low ratings in the global development measurement firmly on disabled people, instead of on lack of services, health care, equality and justice.
DPI is committed to providing evidence that indicate what the best policies would be to ensure equality and justice for all. We believe that DALY does not provide meaningful evidence of health measurement and is, of itself, discriminatory and degrading.
March 2006
2006-05-02 00:00:00
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