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This is an update on disability news around the world relating to the COVID-19 crisis, from late April to the end of September 2020. It's a snapshot of news, statistics, policy, and experiences of persons with disabilities around the world. Links are prvided to the original resources.

Topics covered include:

• What has happended so far: Data on COVID-19 and mortality; Care homes and institutional settings; Impact on persons with disabilities; Gathering data and the gaps; Experiences of Persons with Disabilities
• Disability in response; International response: Collections of resources; Country and Regional Approaches; Resources by disability
• Inclusion in protection and interim measures; Masks / face coverings; Physical distancing and isolation; Lockdown and confinement; Institutions and long-term care facilities; Coming out of lockdown; Social protection and services
• Health, treatment and recovery
• Across society and sectors: Care; Culture and sport; Digital accessibility and inclusion; Education and young people; Elections and politics; Humanitarian and Refugees; International cooperation; Justice; Mental Health; Transportation and travel; Violence; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Work and skills
• Rebuilding / what happens next; New perspectives and recovery; Social protection; Work and employment

There is growing evidence that COVID-19 is disproportionally impacting the lives of people with disabilities. This includes evidence of the increased risk of severe outcomes of contracting COVID-19 amongst people with existing health conditions, including many people with disabilities. It also includes a wide range of other potential impacts such as: reductions or disruptions in non-COVID-19 health or rehabilitation services, the effects of shielding on isolation and mental health, the implications of social distancing on people who require carer support, and the impact on poverty, participation and wellbeing due to disrupted disability-inclusive development programmes.

Measurement of disability in research has historically been contested and a number of different tools exist. Clear guidance is needed on how to determine which tool to use to understand the situation of people with disabilities in different settings, and plan responsive and inclusive COVID-19 programmes and policies to support their needs. Good quality, comparable data on disability is essential for tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as prevention and mitigation interventions, amongst people with disabilities. Such evidence is also imperative for tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and UNCRPD compliance.

This evidence brief synthesises findings from a scoping review of ICF-compatible tools to measure disability in population-based surveys with a focus on LMICs (2018), protocols and research outputs from seven population-based surveys of disability across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, secondary analyses of the South African Census, US National Health Interview Survey and three Demographic and Health Surveys, reflections from global stakeholders in disability measurement (including the UN Flagship Report on Disability), and evidence compiled for the upcoming Global Disability Research Massive Open Online Course at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Using the Washington Group (WG) tools to assess the impact of COVID-19 on persons with disability is described.

Guidance for the use of the WG question sets in telephone or web data collections is provided. Consideration is given to several possible issues when implementing these methods including: sample bias; telephone interviewing persons with hearing and communication difficulties; internet administration for persons with vision, cognition or other difficulties; and translation of survey questions for administration during the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the World Health Organization, in 2018, about 29 million of the 195 million people who comprise Nigeria’s national population were living with a disability. Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey reveal that an estimated 7 percent of household members above the age of five (as well as 9 percent of those 60 or older) have some level of difficulty in at least one functional domain, seeing, hearing, communication, cognition, walking, or self-care; and 1 percent either have a lot of difficulty or cannot function at all in at least one domain. These estimated rates, while significant, are probably even higher because currently available data likely underestimate the prevalence. This rapid social assessment was undertaken to document the current socioeconomic status of persons with disabilities in Nigeria. Findings indicate that persons with disabilities lack access to basic services and that attitudinal barriers represent a major impediment to their socioeconomic inclusion. Inclusive policies are either nonexistent, weak, or inadequately implemented. 

Led by The Asia Foundation (the Foundation) in Kabul, Afghanistan, the WHO’s and World Banks’ Model Disability Survey (MDS) was implemented in Afghanistan in 2019 to provide rigorous and current data for policy and action. Using an adapted MDS, the MDSA 2019 was designed and implemented to generate representative data at nationally and regionally representative levels.

A complex survey using multistage sampling was administered respectively to adult (18+ years) and child (2–17 years) populations; a total of 14,290 households were surveyed, representing 111,641 Afghans across the country. Separate survey tools were implemented for adults (157 questions) and children (53 questions). Three core tools were developed covering: 1) household characteristics; 2) adult disabilities (related to functioning, health conditions, personal assistance, assistive products and facilitators, health care utilization, well-being and empowerment); 3) child disabilities (related to functioning and health conditions)

On April 22nd 2020, the European Disability Forum organised the fourth of a series of webinars about the Innovation to Inclusion project (also called i2i programme). 

Four speakers were invited to talk about Labour Market Data for persons with disabilities. After their presentation, there was some time for questions and answers.

• Mark Carew (Leonard Cheshire) spoke briefly about i2i’s approach to disability data and how i2i supports a good quality collection of disability data.
• Valentina Stoevska (Department of Statistics, International Labour Organisation) explained the objectives of the statistical data on the labour market characteristics of persons with disabilities. She talked about the use of Washington Group questions on the disability Labour Force Surveys. To conclude her presentation, Ms Stoevska briefly illustrated with some statistics the employment characteristics of persons with disabilities.
• Robert Buluma (Governance, Peace and Security statistics of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics) briefly provided some information on the development of a disability monograph.
• Anderson Gitonga (United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK)) spoke about the importance of the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in data gathering and touched upon the technical working group that has been formed in Kenya.

Previous phases of trachoma mapping in Pakistan completed baseline surveys in 38 districts. To help guide national trachoma elimination planning, this work was carried out to estimate trachoma prevalence in 43 suspected-endemic evaluation units (EUs) of 15 further districts. A population-based trachoma prevalence survey was planned for each EU. Two-stage cluster sampling was employed, using the systems and approaches of the Global Trachoma Mapping Project.

Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2020 Apr;27(2):155-164

doi: 10.1080/09286586.2019.1708120

The extent of the effect of poverty and social exclusion on persons with disabilities in the EU was examined

The report shows how, in all EU countries, persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor and unemployed than persons without disabilities. It presents actions that the EU, it's Member States and other European Countries should take to improve the situation.

A blog explaining and categorising how international aid has been allocated to projects in a primary or a secondary disability component. It further classifies disability-relevant projects according to their particular focus on one or more of two areas:

Inclusion and empowerment projects have a focus on ensuring people with disabilities are included in benefits on an equal basis to people without disabilities.
Economic empowerment projects are a subset of inclusion and empowerment projects that have the deliberate purpose of improving employment opportunities and rights for people with disabilities.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the UK government or members of the Inclusion Works consortium.