The Ministry of Health is observing Rehabilitation Week 2009, and is currently involved with the Disability Commission and the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security,Jerseys NFL China, in establishing the size of the disability population in Guyana.A press statement from the Health Ministry stated that the register is an important one which would enable the entity to ascertain what are the different kinds of disabilities in Guyana and the size of the disability population.According to a census done in 2002, about 4% of the Guyanese population live with some form of disability,Jerseys Wholesale, while 57% of these persons acquired a disability during their life time and about 43% were born with some form of disability.However, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 10% of a population usually lives with some form of disability. Various studies in different countries have supported this estimate for the disabled population. This would mean that the Guyanese Census Report 2002, under-estimated the disability population.The Ministry of Health estimates that about 7% of the population live with some form of disability. The Disability Commission also supports this higher estimate.According to the press statement,Wholesale China Jerseys, the Disability Commission has started a register of persons living with disability and this should provide better information in the future. The Ministry of Health is working with the Commission to ensure a comprehensive register is in place by the end of 2009.The Ministry will also commission new rehabilitation buildings in the coming week,Cheap NFL Jerseys, at the New Amsterdam and Fort Wellington Hospitals.It was noted that rehabilitation services are already available, but will be upgraded to provide a higher level of service with the building of new faculties in Regions Five and Six.Rehabilitation services are presently available in nine of the ten regions and the Ministry expects to introduce similar services in Region Eight shortly.“We expect seven new professional physiotherapists who should graduate this year from Cuba to join our staff. Presently, eight Guyanese physiotherapists and 45 Guyanese Rehabilitation Assistants provide services to people across Guyana. These Guyanese Physiotherapists and Rehabilitation Assistants are being assisted by personnel from the VSO and from the Cuban Medical Brigade who support physiotherapy and other rehabilitation services,Cheap NFL Jerseys,” the statement noted.It was explained that Guyana has an active training program for Rehabilitation Assistants, as another 50 persons are expected to be trained in the next four years.“While there are no local professionals in the areas of Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language,Wholesale Jerseys, therapy services are provided by locally trained rehabilitation assistants with support from VSO and Cuban personnel. We expect the University of Guyana to begin a BSc program for rehabilitation, where persons would specialize in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy.? The university has approved the program and it is scheduled to commence in September 2009.”The Ministry of Health is also negotiating with Dalhousie University of Canada to provide support for this program.It is also presently working to establish a wheelchair repair shop at the Materials Management Unit, where they expect to hire a number of persons living with disabilities.Efforts are also being made by the Ministry with various partners to expand Guyana’s capacity for the teaching of Braille for the blind.