Guideline to screen disability forms by the Ministry of Health, Maldives.

Posted by Yafaau's Dad on May 13, 2011 in disAbility Rights, Guidelines |

T he Disability Evaluation Under Social Security, (also known as the “Blue Book”) prepared to provide healthcare professionals in the United States to evaluate disability programs administered by their Social Security Administration has been published in our Ministry of Health website as a standard ‘disability guideline’ that would be followed in verifying information for disability forms in the Maldives.

This blue book can be used as a reference of listing Impairments and how DGFPS of the Health Ministry could partially decide if someone has a disability. It can help ensure a healthcare professional furnish sound decisions on disability claims. I understand there are also other things to consider such as severity of medical conditions, age, and work skills.

BUT

• The ‘disability guideline’ that Health Ministry following is outdated!

The said document at Health Ministry website is the Blue Book January 2003! The latest edition after many technical revisions is Blue Book September 2008 (http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/) the latest version contains new ‘Special Senses and Speech Listings’ effective 02 August, 2010. I don’t really understand why the Health Ministry should follow an older version!

• The ‘disability guideline’ is the Part B – Childhood listings of Impairments!

Childhood listing or Part B provides medical criteria for the evaluation of impairments of children under age 18 (where criteria in Part A – Adult listings provide medical criteria applicable to individuals age 18 and above.) Are adults not included in the disability allowance?

I’d like to urge Health Ministry, specifically its DGFPS to be more professional in their research and knowledge in the area of disability and to be more careful in their decisions towards pwd’s. They should not underestimate the technical capacity of the general public or think that their work would go un-analyzed. Please refer to the right documents as most of them are readily available on the internet.