International Rehabilitation Forum announces two global initiatives to commemorate International Day of Persons with Disabilities & Universal Health Coverage Day
Nov 29, 2022
Nonprofit supports statement on universal health coverage; joins World Rehabilitation Alliance
MIDDLEBURY, Vermont – The International Rehabilitation Forum, a Vermont-based nonprofit focused on building rehabilitation medicine practices in low-resource and isolated regions, recently announced two developments to advance global disability awareness.
The initiatives include:
- Joining the World Rehabilitation Alliance. This World Health Organization's global network of stakeholders has a mission to support the implementation of the Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative. It focuses on promoting rehabilitation as an essential health service integral to universal health coverage and to the realization of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- Co-signing the Joint Statement on Universal Health Coverage. Launched by the Global Rehabilitation Alliance, the statement calls for “…rehabilitation to be affordable, accessible, available, and quality; for this, rehabilitation needs to be integrated into health systems and included in financially covered packages of care.”
Andrew Haig, M.D., a Vermont physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and president of the International Rehabilitation Forum, says the organization will use its work with WRA to promote the Joint Statement, which reaffirms the real impact of rehabilitation medicine on human lives.
“Modern medicine has the clinical treatments and technology to improve people’s ability to be independent and contribute to society. As the leader in building medical rehabilitation in isolated and low-resource countries, the International Rehabilitation Forum strongly supports this document and its advocacy for rehabilitation and technology as a routine part of health care,” he said.
About International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The annual observance on December 3 was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. The theme of this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world.”
About Universal Health Coverage Day
December 12 is the annual rallying point for advocates to raise their voices and share the stories of the millions of people still waiting for health, call on leaders to make smarter investments in health and remind the world about the imperative of universal health coverage.
About Andrew Haig, MD
A physician and active Emeritus Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, Dr. Haig is familiar to healthcare executives as the founder of the University of Michigan Spine Program and a member of Noel Tichy Ph.D.’s leadership training team. Andy Haig has worked in environments as diverse as rural Wisconsin, sub-Saharan Africa and Vienna, Austria. His work has been recognized with the top research, teaching, and patient care awards in his field. Dr. Haig has opened a clinical practice, Haig Physical Medicine PLC, www.haigmed.com, in Middlebury, Vermont, to be a demonstration model and home of an international second opinion program. He also is the co-founder of the International Rehabilitation Forum, www.rehabforum.org, a non-profit which brings together people and institutions that have the passion and expertise to build relevant rehabilitation medicine practices in low-resource and isolated regions, aiming at maximizing the independence and leadership of all persons with physical limitations.