The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities

Opening montage

A man in a wheelchair helps set up a tent at an outdoor event; a man with a white cane walks confidently across a large room; a man in a wheelchair enters a hangar and approaches an ultralight aircraft.

Indoor scene

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, is seated with an American flag and the official seal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the background.

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona

"We can and must become a nation that recognizes the need to break down barriers to health and wellness for people with disabilities. Working together we can take this even further. We must be a nation that makes health and wellness for people with disabilities a priority—a national priority."

Outdoor scene

A woman appears in a wheelchair on the national mall with the U.S. Capitol in the background.

Juliette Rizzo

"This national priority is vital to the 54 million people with disabilities in this country who are born with or acquire a disability in their lifetime. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action calls on everyone in this country to see people with disabilities as equals and to recognize that disability is NOT inability."

Indoor scene

A man sits at a cash register. A woman customer approaches, followed by another woman, a co-worker.

Background audio

A woman customer speaks to man at cash register: "medium hot tea"

The man repeats: "medium hot tea (pushing buttons on register)."

Juliette Rizzo
(voiceover)

"Roy Patten is someone who makes the most of his life despite his disability."

Background audio

Electronic cash register speaks: "two dollars and 60 cents."

Juliette Rizzo
(voiceover)

"Roy is a people person… But he will never see those people he interacts with every day."

Roy Patten

"I was ashamed to let people know that I was blind. People do treat you different, especially when they find out that I’m blind. I have retinitis pigmentosa—that’s the eye disease that I have."

Juliette Rizzo
(voiceover)

"But that doesn’t stop him from doing his job or having a positive outlook about life."

Roy Patten
(cashier)

"I was ashamed to let people know that I was blind. People do treat you different, especially when they find out that I’m blind. I have retinitis pigmentosa—that’s the eye disease that I have."

Evelyn Flowers
(co-worker)

"We used to have a sign put up at the cash register that he was blind, then I took it down. I said No, that’s not right. I really don’t look at Roy as being blind; I look at him like he can see."

Indoor scene

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, is seated with an American flag and the official seal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the background.

Surgeon General Carmona

"People with disabilities can function in everyday life and do just about every job that society needs done. Sometimes they have to adapt because of their particular disability, but clearly people that are disabled are an integral part of our society."

Outdoor scene

A man in a wheelchair helps set up a tent at an outdoor event.

Dr. Peter Galpin

"There are a host of people walking around that deal with visual disability every single day, and they use an appliance to do that, and that appliance is called glasses. And certainly nobody considers those people to be in any way significantly limited in what they can do, and they should look on other handicapped people the same way."

Juliette Rizzo
(voiceover)

"While the Surgeon General’s Call to Action recognizes people with disabilities have limitations, one of the goals is to make sure people know they are still capable of living healthy and fulfilling lives."

Outdoor scene

A man is seated in front of an ultralight aircraft.

Dan Buchanan

"There’s logical limitations. You just have to accept that. But there are so many other things… You know there are 100 things I can’t do, but 10 million things that I can" (He laughs.) "So go after the good ones!"

Indoor scene

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, is seated with an American flag and the official seal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the background.

Surgeon General Carmona

"The first thing is that the American people have to be aware that there is an issue, and that’s what this Call to Action does. It shines a light on it, it makes them understand that people with disabilities are unique but also they are an integral part of our society. They do just about everything that we can do, they have important jobs, they have big jobs, and we have to point out that there are disparities in the way people with disabilities are treated and function within our country."

Indoor scene

A man sits at a cash register.

Roy Patten

"I can do anything now, you know!"

Outdoor scene

A man is seated in front of an ultralight aircraft.

Dan Buchanan

"Live your dreams and start flying. You never know where it’s going to take you."

Outdoor scene

A woman in a wheelchair on the national mall with the U.S. Capitol in the background.

Juliette Rizzo

"As Miss Wheelchair America 2005, I am one of 54 million people with disabilities in America, and I urge you to take the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to heart and to make the necessary changes to improve the health and wellness of people with disabilities in this country. Remember, this Call to Action is for everyone!"

Indoor scene

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, standing at a podium with an American flag and the official seal of the U.S. Public Health Service in the background.

Surgeon General Carmona

"Every single disabled person. Everybody. Has access to health care, access to facilities, so that they can maximize their full potential in life."

Background audio

Electronic cash register speaks: "two dollars and 60 cents."

Closing screen

For more information, visit our Web site at:

www.surgeongeneral.gov

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Video Production