Daily HealthBeat Tip

Disability, not inability

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I�m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Disability and sickness are not the same thing. That�s one of the issues the U.S. Surgeon General clarifies in a Call to Action.

Dr. Richard Carmona says people with disabilities can lead long, healthy, and productive lives. He also says, for the most part, they can do anything people without disabilities can do.

"Disability is not inability. People with disabilities can function in every day life and do just about every job that society needs done. Sometimes they have to adapt because of their particular disability. But clearly people who are disabled are an integral part of society." (16 seconds)

The Call to Action stresses that each of the 54 million disabled people in the United States should be treated just like everyone else. Their disability is just one aspect of their life and shouldn�t define who they are or what they can become.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I�m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 20, 2005

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