Disabled people
The principal foundation of Dutch government's policy on people with a physical, mental or sensory disability is that they have the same rights and duties as anyone else.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport encourages people with disabilities to be as independent as possible. They must be able to use the same facilities as anyone else. Special measures are needed only when this is not possible.In the past, people with disabilities were often regarded as medically unfit. Services and aids were provided on that basis. The current policy is not to shut them away in institutions, but to give them a place in the community.
In 2002, parliament unanimously approved a bill on the equal treatment of disabled and chronically ill people, prohibiting discrimination against them in the field of employment, training and transport. This law, the Equal Treatment on the Grounds of Disability or Chronic Illness Act, came into force December 2003.
References
- Equal Treatment in Practice
- Disability or chronic illness? Legal regulation of equal treatment
- Factsheet: The government's health and wellfare policy
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Internetsite of the NPCF
- Disability management works
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EU: disability issues
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WHO: disability - prevention, management and rehabilitation
- The Medical Examinations Act
