With data from the 2020 National Population and Housing Census in hand, The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) asked Mexican State officials to create new public policies regarding people with disabilities, including COVID-19 vaccine prioritization.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the census reported that there are 20.8 million people with disabilities in Mexico. Of that amount, 6.1 million have severe disabilities which affect their daily activities of living, 13.9 million are high-functioning and 1.5 million have “some mental problem or condition.”
The CNHD requested that officials:
- develop, update and apply public policies from a disability point of view;
- draft and organize public policies that target people living with disabilities;
- advocate for and encourage inter-institutional work to create a standard that allows for identifying the disability population in a timely and relevant fashion; and
- include disabled people in the estimates of the impact caused by the COVID-9 pandemic in Mexico
The CNDH is demanding COVID-19 vaccination priority for, at the very least, the 6.1 million Mexicans with severe disabilities.
