ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: The first lady, Sehba Musharraf, has emphasized that care of the special persons is a collective responsibility and the society should be mobilized for an organized support system to make them useful and respected members.

She was speaking at the inaugural session of national symposium on “Reaching Out to Enable the Disabled” organized by the Institute for Handicapped here on Saturday. The federal health minister, Muhammad Nasir Khan, also attended the inaugural session of the symposium.

Ms Sehba said the government recognized the rights of the special persons and was signatory to all the international declarations and covenants on the subject.

“The recently announced policy for the disabled also serves focus on the critical issues and should go a long way in addressing many of the problems currently being faced by the special persons in the country,” she said.

“However, I would like to emphasize again that the care and nurture of the special persons is a collective responsibility and must not be dependent on government action alone.”

She said individuals with disabilities and their families could not be left to fend for themselves in an un-supportive social environment. She added that the burden of disability on individuals and their families could be shared and reduced if there was awareness and understanding in the community.

This needs to be recognized and a concrete action should be launched to address the problems facing the special persons, she said.

“We as members of the community, have to confront this problem effectively and with compassion,” she said, adding that “of course, dialogue and discussion are a good starting point but these must also lead to concrete action.”

The community needs to be mobilized to develop an organized system of support, she said.

Referring to the success of Pakistani blind cricketers in the World Cup, she said they had made the nation proud and proved that special persons could realize their potential if provided a congenial environment.

In this context, she underlined that the combination of a positive social attitude and the will to achieve could greatly help improve the lot of the special persons.

She noted that the government had already taken some important steps to address the issues confronting the special people.

Ms Sehba said she was deeply moved by the accounts of Mrs Zahir Rustam, who with the dedication and care was raising her special daughter and Dr Khalid Jamil, who defied accidental injuries to stand and walk on his feet. These examples of courage underscore the importance of respect for human rights and that the concept of care was deepening. She said the symposium was a reminder for all that the special persons should not be left on the sidelines of the society.

The health minister, Nasir Khan, said the recently announced policy for the disabled aimed at empowering the persons with disabilities for the realization of their full potential in all spheres of life.

The areas of focus of the policy, he said, included prevention, early intervention and effective management, education and training, advocacy and mass awareness, research and development, sports and recreation, and facilitation of independent mobility.

He said the NIHd was the only national public sector institution offering re-constructive and rehabilitative services for the civilian population.

He said the ministry had constituted a supervisory board, headed by the minister in-charge of MoH, with the secretaries of health and social welfare and special education and the director-general health as members, to monitor the functioning and progress of the institute.

The annual budget of the institution has been almost doubled in the year 2002-2003 and prompt action is being taken to keep the hi-tech equipment of the Institute functional, he said.