MANILA, Philippines — World Health Organization (WHO) country representative Dr. Soe Nyunt-U said societies “must break down barriers which segregate people with disabilities (PWDs)” among the rest of the public “forcing the latter to the margins of society.”

Soe emphasized that assisting people with disabilities to access opportunities and contribute to their communities will show us that PWDs actually have much to offer.

The WHO official presented the World Disability Report to President Aquino Tuesday during the second Asia-Pacific Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) congress in Pasay City.

The event was attended by 643 participants coming from 63 countries.

The report is a joint undertaking by the WHO and the World Bank (WB) group that aims to provide global estimates of PWDs, and an overview of the magnitude and status of disability in the world.

“More than one billion people in the world live with some form of disability, of whom, nearly 200 million experience considerable difficulties in functioning. In the years ahead, disability will be an even greater concern because its prevalence is on the rise. This is due to ageing populations and the higher risk of disability in older people as well as the global increase in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health disorders,” a joint statement from Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, and Robert B. Zoellick, president of WB group, said.

“To achieve the long-lasting, vastly better development prospects that lie at the heart of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals and beyond, we must empower people living with disabilities and remove the barriers which prevent them from participating in their communities, getting a quality education, finding a decent work, and having their voices heard,” Chan and Zoellick added.

National Council on Disability Affairs Executive Director Alicia Bala echoed the same sentiment in an interview during the sidelines of the event.

Bala said the government lacks a solid figure on the actual number of PWDs in the country and partly blamed the inability of Filipino families to fully accept a kin with a disability.

“There is still a problem with households in sharing the information of having a relative with a disability... Many families don’t want to come out yet... they live in isolation, sometimes, they don’t want their child to get out of their homes,” Bala said.